Can we believe what children tell us?

It’s a great honour to be able to give the Howard Williams Oration. When I looked at the distinguished list of previous orators, it made me approach the task with some trepidation. But I also approached it with delight because Howard Williams had been a great encouragement to me in my early years and this is an opportunity to acknowledge his contribution to Australian paediatrics I want to start with what I have learned about child abuse, particularly the long-term consequences, how recent research is starting to provide an explanation for some of the things we have observed in the past and then move to the topic of this presentation, ‘Can we believe what children tell us?’