Page 4345 - Week 13 - Thursday, 17 November 2005
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(6) What is the Government doing to address the increasing number of child abuse reports in terms of (a) handling those complaints and (b) reducing the number of complaints.
Ms Gallagher: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
(1) 66.
(2) 36 additional staff have been recruited from overseas. As at 26 September 2005, there were twenty-six new recruits from overseas employed by the Department. A further 10 are expected to arrive in Australia by the end of 2005.
(3) By the end of 2005 it is anticipated that there will be adequate staffing levels in Care and Protection Services.
(4) Between 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005 there were 1,031 Child Protection Reports which were sent to the Community Advocate pursuant to s162 (2) of the Children and Young People Act 1999. From 1 July 2005 to 20 September 2005 there have been 273 section 162(2) reports forwarded to the Community Advocate.
(5) In 2004-05, the issue of the timeliness of reports by the Office was raised by the Community Advocate.
This has been addressed by OCYFS through a revision to the format of section 267 reports. It is expected that timeliness of these reports will improve over the next reporting period.
(6) The answer to this question is contained in the second 6 monthly status reports on the implementation of the recommendations of the Territory as Parent and Territory’s Children reports table in the Legislative Assembly on 23 August 2005.
The Office funds a range of early intervention and prevention programs, which are aimed at reducing rates of child abuse in the Territory. Of note, are the ParentLink Campaign, the Schools as Communities Program, the Child and Family Centres and various Family Support programs. The Office also works in collaboration with a range of government and non-government service providers to assist families to address other associated issues such as domestic violence services, drug and alcohol services and mental health services.
Suicide prevention
(Question No 607)
Mrs Burke asked the Minister for Health, upon notice, on 21 September 2005:
What outcomes have been achieved in relation to suicide prevention from the funding that has been given to Health First during (a) 2001-2002, (b) 2002-2003, (c) 2003-2004, (d) 2004-2005 and (e) 2005-2006 to date.
Mr Corbell: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
Health First uses computer-aided guidelines to assist its operators, all of whom are registered nurses, in dealing with callers.
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