Page 2887 - Week 08 - Thursday, 17 August 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
that families, carers, children and young people and community and government services are able to work together, collaboratively, and share critical information. Care plans are developed by care teams and represent a shared responsibility for decision-making about individual children and young people.
Declared care teams recognise the right for children and young people to grow in safe and stable environments and take into account the responsibilities of parents, families and our entire community to contribute to their safety, protection and wellbeing. Far from decision-making happening behind closed doors, shared responsibility through care teams is the prevailing way of supporting children and their families involved in the child protection system. As all members will appreciate, decision-making in a child protection context is complex and can be emotional and fraught for families. This is why, wherever possible, decisions are made in the context of care teams and having considered these best interest principles.
As recommendation 11 of Glanfield notes, good decision-making requires effective engagement and collaboration. In line with this recommendation, child and youth protection services has been working closely with community and government partners to improve decision-making. A collaboration framework is currently under development for child and youth protection services. This framework is being developed through consultation with our government and community partners to guide how organisations work together to ensure that services and supports are provided so that people get the best outcomes for their circumstances.
Child and youth protection services is also working with the Australian Red Cross Birth Family Advocacy Support Service and the Women’s Legal Centre to update the 2014 working together for kids guide. The working together for kids guide is greatly appreciated by parents involved with the child protection system and by community partners, including schools, health services, legal services and family support agencies. The guide has facilitated a clearer understanding of the role of child protection, providing detailed information about processes for all parties and information for parents about where they can go for support and how to make complaints.
The updated guide will provide additional information regarding review rights and will be publicly available in print form and available on the directorate’s website, as outlined in recommendation 14. I am advised that child and youth protection services anticipate that the new guide will be ready for relaunching shortly. I thank the Women’s Legal Service and the Australian Red Cross Birth Family Advocacy Support Service for their willingness to partner with child and youth protection services to ensure that those who are involved with the child protection system have access to as much information as possible about not only their rights but also their responsibilities. The new guide reflects strengthened policy in relation to restoring and keeping children safely at home and reflects the ongoing commitment of child and youth protection services to better consultation and availability of information for parents.
The findings and recommendations of Glanfield address not only how decisions are made and who is involved in the decision-making but also how the decisions can be reviewed. I would like to remind members that in addition to the Children’s Court and
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video