Page 598 - Week 02 - Thursday, 17 February 2005
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Ms Lou Denley, an experienced leader in child protection reform in South Australia, has commenced in the position of Executive Director in the Office for Children, Youth and Family Support. A new office structure that aligns functions and client groups has been established. It includes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unit, as well as an early intervention and prevention group.
Mr Speaker, we have been able to recruit, and more significantly perhaps retain, more child protection workers, with staff numbers increasing from 51 in April 2004 to 88 in January 2005. There is a caveat to this, however, which I will explain shortly. In September 2004, I launched a revised care and protection manual and a further revision of the manual will be released later this month. There has also been continuing legislative reform with the review of the Children and Young People Act.
Consultation has occurred with children, young people and the community to inform the role and functions of the ACT Commissioner for Children and Young People. The Emerging themes report, on the outcomes of the consultation with children and young people, will be released in March this year. A MOU has been implemented between the office and ACT Health to formalise their partnership as direct service providers for children and young people at risk or in care.
Last month the Institute for Child Protection Studies was established as a partnership between the office and the Australian Catholic University to promote best practice in the care and protection of children and young people in the ACT. Most importantly, on 5 July last year the Community Advocate informed members of the previous Assembly that there was compliance with section 162 (2) of the Children and Young People Act. This section requires the chief executive to provide the Community Advocate with a copy of all child protection reports concerning each child or young person in the care of the territory.
It was the territory’s lack of action about providing these child protection reports that initiated the Vardon review into child protection. Workloads have increased substantially and impacted on some responsibilities, such as the timely presentation of section 267 reports, or annual anniversary review reports about children and young people in care.
Mr Speaker, the annual anniversary review process is extremely involved. The section 267 reports represent a history for each child or young person of their year in care. It is a comprehensive assessment of their circumstances—circumstances which are often complex and involve the relationship between the individual, the family and the care arrangements. The office is working hard to ensure that all section 267 reports are completed on time. In the meantime, the office is putting into place new arrangements that will improve quality assurance and will be accompanied by future changes of contractual arrangements with out-of-home care providers.
Mr Speaker, we are also operating in a period of increased activity and greater complexity in the case management of children, young people and their families. This is evident from the increased number of child protection reports and numbers of children and young people who are subject to a report. The number of child protection workers has grown from 46 at the time I initiated the Vardon review to the present number of 88,
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