Child and family safety in disorders of substance use and addictive behaviours

When seeing a patient with a disorder of substance use or addictive behaviour who has children in their care, consider whether their ability to provide safety and care is impaired, and whether the level of risk requires a mandatory notification. For advice on mandatory notification of child abuse and neglect, see the Australian Institute of Family Studies website. For help locating a child protection case worker in each state and territory, see the Department of Social Services website.

Disorders of substance use and addictive behaviours can exacerbate family and intimate partner violenceChoenni, 2017Dowling, 2018. For further information, see the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) guideline on abuse and violence (The White Book).