Page 3307 - Week 11 - Thursday, 11 November 2021
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decision-making through implementation of a new internal review of decisions process and progressing work to establish an external merits review process.
The ACT government is also continuing work to respond to a significant number of recommendations from a range of reviews, inquiries and reports into family and domestic violence and the child protection system, including the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the Glanfield report, the Our Booris, Our Way review, and the Legislative Assembly inquiry into Child and Youth Protection Services.
The ACT government is committed to continuing its reform, and to doing more, in response to the coroner’s recommendations to keep children and young people safe and ensure public safety. While the coroner’s findings lay sole responsibility for Bradyn Dillon’s death with his father, that does not take away our responsibility as a government, and as a community, to do all we can to better protect our community’s children and young people.
The ACT government agrees with the intent of all 17 recommendations across child protection, education and information sharing. Of the 17 recommendations, the ACT government agrees or agrees in principle to 16, and one is noted.
Our response to the coroner’s recommendations addresses four key themes of workforce development, training and guidance, better support and training for mandated reporters, contemporary legislation and information sharing, and increased funding to meet demand and enhance partnerships.
Under theme 1, workforce development, training and guidance, the ACT government recognises the complex work undertaken by CYPS staff and will continue its efforts to improve workforce development, training and guidance of the ACT’s child protection workforce.
A foundational and ongoing learning framework is currently being developed to support the work of CYPS staff, and it is aligned with the skills and experience necessary for staff at different levels. A key focus is strengthening delivery of forensic interviewing for more experienced CYPS staff, and a foundational interviewing program for new starters that introduces them to a framework for engaging and interviewing children.
An important aspect will be to review the current risk assessment system and to enhance it through the provision of supporting tools and resources that capture all aspects of risk assessment identified in this inquiry.
CYPS has taken further steps to refine and improve direction to operational staff regarding issues of family violence. Through the 2020-21 ACT government supply bill, $128,000 was secured to fund CYPS staff training in the internationally recognised Safe & Together training model, delivered by the Safe & Together Institute. This model uses a suite of tools and interventions designed to support child protection practitioners to become domestic violence informed. This is in addition to
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