Child abuse and the 'little children are sacred' report: a rural paediatrician's perspective.

Rural health is never far from political controversy. Often an issue makes the headlines and there are feverish announcements and great promises about taking definitive action. Then a little time passes and the politicians involved come to the realisation that there is no ‘quick fix’ or ‘single fix’ for what are complex issues, and the will to maintain the passion for the issue fades as the story disappears from the front page of the newspapers. Recently, we have all witnessed an extraordinary response to the Little Children are Sacred 1 report that documents the appalling conditions in which many Indigenous children in the Northern Territory are growing up. The report suggested an urgent but multifaceted long-term response to a very complex problem.