News Home  Audio NT Children's Commissioner: Tackling violence
should be top priority  Sara Everingham  The Northern Territory
Children's Commissioner has told a chronic disease prevention
conference in Darwin that exposure to violence and fear is the
most pressing public health issue for children in the territory.
Dr Bath says many children in the territory are manifestly
unsafe and that exposure to violence can affect children's well-
being for years   DAVID MARK: The Northern Territory Children's
Commissioner says evidence shows that exposure to violence and
fear is the most pressing public health problem for children in
the Territory.  Dr Howard Bath has made a plea for policy makers
to put violence prevention at the top of their priorities.  He
says too many of the Territory's children are being exposed to
violence, particularly in the Indigenous community.  Between
2009 and 2010, for example, 840 Aboriginal women were admitted
to hospital after being assaulted compared to just 27 non-
Indigenous women.  D