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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 6 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1670 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

The poverty task force made it clear that single-parent families were suffering from poverty. There is also concern about the emergence of working poor in Australia, Casualisation of the work force and weakening of industrial relations legislation and protection for workers have disadvantaged women, who are not in industrially strong work situations and are more likely to be exploited by employers. We can see that in the gender analysis of people who have suffered under the less regulated industrial scene in Australia over the last few years. It shows that women have been negatively affected.

Foster families are an important group of families in need of support. The last paragraph of Mrs Cross' motion says that it is necessary to support families. A recent report from the Australian Foster Care Association made key findings that support the need for us to acknowledge the very important work in the foster care system.

The key findings included a finding that the foster care system faces important challenges, with the bulk of children in the system being cared for by a relatively small number of carers and too few new carers. The nature of foster care has been changing, with a high level of behaviour problems in children in care and the need for more sophisticated parenting.

In this environment, there is a need to review recruitment processes, training and ongoing support to ensure children are receiving good, quality care. Collaborative approaches involving all levels of government and parts of the sector offer the potential for better outcomes for children. A significant proportion of foster carers would like greater support, particularly from state authorities. Greater support could also be provided through foster care associations.

More broadly, foster carers feel that the low level of status and respect they feel is accorded them does not match the importance of the task they are undertaking in raising children. Foster carers are taking on children who are severely and extremely traumatised. It is work that should be given much greater status. I am pleased to see this report. I hope it is acknowledged federally and locally. I do not think many of us here would think we were up to the task of dealing with some of the troubled young people that foster carers care for. It takes an incredible amount of dedication.

There are allegations of abuse within that foster care system. It is absolutely horrendous that children who have already been incredibly betrayed by the situation they were brought up in can be abused. That is also dealt with in the report. Processes to deal with allegations of abuse have to be improved to provide greater support to carers without jeopardising the safety of children. In this context it is worth trialing approaches used in countries such as Canada.

In the foster care debate Aboriginal families have to be given special acknowledgment. Unfortunately, the removal of Aboriginal children from families, which was dealt with in a very important report, is still occurring. Attention needs to be given to how people in indigenous communities are supported and how foster arrangements can be facilitated in consultation with, and controlled by, indigenous communities.

In conclusion, families are indeed very diverse. I agree with everyone who says that families are a very important part of our society and important in ensuring stability and community cohesion. They need to be valued in all their various forms. Society does not

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