Parenting is tough in Australia these days.

(Adoption in Australia happens on a small level, there being only 502 adoptions in 2003/04, 74% of which were international.)

There are some tough new laws coming into play that will change the way mothers and fathers behave ... and walk, for that matter.

As of 1 July next year, parents will be encouraged to tie themselves to strollers, prams and such, and all these baby transporting contraptions will have to be sold with tethers that will attach to either the parents' wrist or waist.

The laws requiring bindings arose from a consumer advocacy group report which found that seven out of eleven three-wheeled strollers didn't pass basic safety tests.

So strapping mom on makes the thing less likely to collapse and crush a kid? Seems they could have addressed the issue differently. I don't suppose the word "Band-Aid" is PC here, but it fits.

Parents down under who neglect their kids will be facing stricter controls over their welfare checks.

In a crackdown some are calling racist, as Aboriginal people are prominently featured in public reporting of abuse, the government is reacting to concern that too much money is being wasted on alcohol and cigarettes at the expense of essentials that would be helping children.

"If parents neglect their children or there is evidence children are being abused, then we are going to change the law," Prime Minister John Howard said.

". . . their family benefit and other payments can be quarantined -- not taken away, but quarantined -- so that the benefit of those payments is directed towards the welfare of the children."

The Opposition Leader agrees, adding, "Kids are critical; the safety of kids is critical."

And finally, parents are being blamed for bullying, and some pretty horrendous bullying, at that.

Five boys between the ages of 12 and 14 kidnapped a 13-year-old and held him for six hours, assaulting threatening to kill him ... even going so far as do dig a grave and forcing him to crawl into it.

"We're talking about young children here that should know better and obviously their parents should be taking more control and knowing what their children are doing and if behaving in such a manner the parents have got to carry a lot of the responsibility of this."

I should say so.