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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 08 Hansard (Tuesday, 3 August 2004) . . Page.. 3333 ..

able to attract or engage Ms Murray to undertake this particular audit report. Ms Murray is acknowledged for her experience and the depth of her understanding of these issues, and I extend my gratitude and the gratitude of the ACT government to Ms Murray for the very significant work that she has done in the production of this very important audit.

It needs to be said also, Mr Speaker, that this is the first time, not just in the ACT but the first time perhaps nationally, that child protection information data found by an audit of this sort, a rigorous investigation of individual cases, has been made available as it is now being made available through the tabling of these reports.

The territory’s children report provides a detailed review of the files of those children and young people who were the subject of a child protection audit during the period from 10 May 2000 to 31 December 2003; that is, over the concluding 18 months of the previous government and in the period after this government assumed responsibility within the ACT. The audit team identified and reviewed the files of 150 children and young people. These children and young people represent 22 per cent of all children and young people who were, at one time or another, in the care of the chief executive. The report includes case examples that, in many instances, are distressing. They illustrate the quality of care that vulnerable children and young people in our community have experienced during the past four years.

My government is committed to making sure that children and young people in our community are not subjected to this level of abuse or neglect. The audit team worked closely with child protection workers during the audit. Following a review of each case, the Office for Children, Youth and Family Support received a report on each child or young person and, where necessary, a request for action. A case plan was put in place to address those concerns requiring action, and the audit team was kept informed.

The audit report makes 66 recommendations, which focus mainly on practice, policy, procedures and training within a child-focused framework. The areas for reform are consistent with the 47 recommendations in the territory as parent report. We need to better support children and young people who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders; improve training, recruitment and support for workers and carers in the care and protection sector; develop best-practice policy and professional practices; improve administration and record-keeping; and develop new family support services and placement options.

Both reports emphasise that these matters are not unique to the ACT. Growing workloads, mandatory reporting, changes in service arrangements and staff turnover are impacting upon effective service delivery here and across the nation and internationally. The recommendations set the directions for reform over the coming years; they reinforce the outcomes of the territory as parent report. And the government supports that direction.

The government has agreed or agreed in principle to all but three of the recommendations. The three recommendations that are not agreed to include recommendation 3(10), establishment of a public foster care program; recommendation 7(12), providing additional services to Jervis Bay; and recommendation 8(3), recording information about children and young people self-harming and absconding as a report.

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