Page 2891 - Week 08 - Thursday, 17 August 2017
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Child protection work is one of the most difficult areas of government service delivery. Our child protection workers are out in our community every day, in families’ homes, working to ensure the safety of children and collaborating with other government and community agencies to ensure the right supports are in place to keep children at home safely. Child protection workers deal with families who are in significant crisis as a result of multiple factors that include drug and alcohol misuse, mental illness and family violence. This work is fraught with danger and risk to children, and child protection workers deserve the ACT community’s full support.
Our dedicated child protection workforce understands that the decisions they make on a daily basis make a difference to the lives of children and young people. The responsibility and expectations placed upon these workers is significant, and each and every caseworker understands that decisions not made in the best interests of children and young people can cause further harm or trauma. Nobody wants that outcome.
The ACT government will continue to invest in improving responses to Canberra’s most vulnerable and at-risk children and young people and to shape our service to the emerging needs of our community. The child protection system continues to reflect, learn and make the necessary adjustments to ensure that when children and young people come into the statutory child protection system they are provided with the right supports and services to reduce risk, return them home to their families when it is safe to do so and to provide them with safe, loving and secure homes when it is not.
I present the following paper:
Child care placement and care plans—Ministerial statement, 17 August 2017.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
Debate interrupted.
Visitor
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ms Lee): Members, we have joining us today in the gallery a former member for Ginninderra, Dr Chris Bourke. Dr Bourke, on behalf of the members here, a warm welcome to you.
Child placement and care plans
Ministerial statement
Debate resumed.
MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (11.22): I thank the minister for bringing this statement to the Assembly today. She has reported back on a number of recommendations from the Glanfield inquiry, and I wish to acknowledge the work that is being done in those areas. They are all important. At the same time, I and many
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