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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 01 Hansard (Thursday, 12 February 2004) . . Page.. 317 ..

The failings of the department appear to be significant in relation to a number of issues concerning the processing of reports and appraisal process. These matters are currently being reviewed by Commissioner Vardon. I will look at the advice of Commissioner Vardon in constructing a government response, just as I will continue to seek guarantees from all those involved that children in the care of the territory are being appropriately cared for in difficult circumstances. I do not doubt that there will be much work to do to restore confidence in the ACT child protection system.

I hope these explanations on the workings of the child protection system address some of the misinformation being spread. I hope, even more, that these facts allay some of the community fear which has been generated by misinformation. On that matter, I accept the apology offered to me by Mrs Burke for some of the comments she has made about me and this government in past weeks. It is true that some of your comments, Mrs Burke, were wrong and malicious, but I accept your apology. I hope that you will not have cause to make further apologies to me, as this government continues to deal with the seriousness of the issue.

With all the mud that has been thrown on this matter, I hope that the system of child protection in the ACT has not also been thrown into crisis. This would occur if foster carers, the members of the community who make enormous sacrifices to look after our children, become the target of insidious criticism or have their role as voluntary caregivers undermined.

Foster carers make their contribution to child safety and support on a voluntary basis, something we should all remember. They provide care and support to children who are vulnerable and also to children who, because of their exposure to abuse or neglect, often internalise issues and display extreme reactions. For these children, foster carers are the last stop in community care. It is essential that foster carers are given adequate support throughout this process, both in terms of practical resources and the debate which is occurring.

In this increasingly partisan political environment, I hope that child protection workers, our front-line caseworkers, are not subjected to political attack. Their skills and expertise are essential for a functioning child protection system. Their work is not enviable and too few people are willing to make the sacrifice and work in the area. Nationally, there is a shortage of child protection workers, and the existing workers in this territory have to be supported throughout this debate if the system is to continue to function. It would be a disgrace if this debate forced hardworking child protection workers to reconsider their commitment to working in Family Services.

Mrs Burke made some comments about the timelines that were dealt with and her belief that, for some reason, I held back from advising the community on the situation. As I have said on a number of occasions, I was advised on 11 December and I put in train a number of interventions, one of which was to seek advice about what this problem was. That was not stated in the brief to me other than to state that we were not complying with this part of the act. I needed to know what this meant, how many children it referred to and whether investigations had been completed. I wanted some advice on resources and the pressure that Family Services were under.

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