Page 4163 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 21 September 2011
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I knew that it was important for the directorate and the community to continue to have confidence in the childcare and protection area, and the only way to do that was to initiate this review.
It is important to remember the context in which some of these decisions are made. In these emergency situations, care and protection services are dealing with children and young people at risk. A placement may have broken down, a child may have been harmed or a family may not be able to cope with the challenging behaviours of a young person. Decisions need to be made quickly, and the questions then follow. Are there placements available? Is the placement suitable? What are the options for these children on a weekend coming up when the staff have been told that there are not enough places to keep the siblings together at a time when they are quite traumatised?
These are the issues that care and protection staff have to deal with regularly. They take children out of risk and they look for safer and more secure environments for them. Many in this place would find that work quite challenging. There are pressures on the system in our city, as Ms Hunter has alluded to. There are 550 children in out-of-home care placements at the moment, and there are not always enough carers. Last financial year care and protection services received over 13,000 child concern reports. This is an increase over the 11,000 reports from the previous year.
Comments on the decision to place with this provider will be made and determined by the Public Advocate’s report. I believe that the best interests of the children and the young people are a paramount consideration by the directorate. But while a possible breach of the act is in play and under question, it is right that we have our systems looked at and reviewed to see where we can improve our systems, our policies, our legislation and our practice to promote the best interest of children and young people. That needs to be done by an independent oversight agency that will enable us to identify where we can make those improvements. I look forward to the Public Advocate’s findings and any recommendations that she may make.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind members that in October we will be debating a relevant and important piece of legislation, the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Bill, which has been tabled. There have been comments about this bill languishing. It has hardly been languishing; there will be many in the community sector who will recognise the extensive work the directorate has undertaken across many sectors within community service and human service delivery so that we get this system as right as we can for all involved.
Given Mrs Dunne’s interest, I look forward to bringing the bill back in October. I seek now—I put the plea out—for people to see that this is an example of why we need such a bill. While we now have concerns within the community sector that have been raised—for example, through drug and alcohol services and the lived experience of those valuable workers that they have—we have worked hard over this year to make sure that the systems, the risk management processes and the multidisciplinary panel approach for appeal have been in place.
I look forward to that bill coming here and being supported by all parties in this place. That bill will remedy many of the issues which will come to light throughout the
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