Australian authorities force toddler to visit drug-addled, violent father in jail

A drug-addled , now jailed, father who routinely bashed his family has been given access to his baby son. The year-old boy was this week taken for his first monthly visit to a Victorian country prison to spend time with his father. The toddler's furious grandmother said he was forced to go by welfare workers.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was accompanied by a child services worker during the supervised 30-minute visit. His grandmother "Jane", his primary carer, was forced to wait outside. The toddler's five-year-old sister was exempt from the visit because she told police her father used to hit her.



Other children have been removed from his care because of concerns about family violence and drug use. Jane said she was disgusted by the DHS decision. "Prison is no place for a child to be, and in this case, the only reason he is being forced to go is because he is not old enough to speak up and say no," she said. "It is just a horrible thing to do. I felt sick the whole time he was in that prison."

Australian Childhood Foundation chief Joe Tucci said it was inappropriate for the boy to be forced to visit a prison. "If parents are known to have neglected or abused their kids and are in jail, it's hard to think of the circumstances where access would be beneficial to the child," Mr Tucci said. "It's more about meeting the perceived needs and rights of the dad."