Page 4164 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 21 September 2011
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review. It is incumbent on all members in this place to support the bill, which will ensure that appropriate background checking is done for all staff working with children and young people at all times. The bill will ensure that the assessment will not be left to the service provider or a provider within the directorate, but will be done independently through the Commissioner for Fair Trading. This process will be a good process for vulnerable young people and children.
I welcome Ms Hunter’s amendment in recognising the dedication of care and protection staff and the challenges that they face in their role. It is most unfortunate that Mrs Dunne has chosen in this debate today to describe the care and protection group as failures and the directorate as ignorant. I ask members to take a step back and to recognise the dedication of care and protection workers and the challenges they face in their role.
We have just come out of Child Protection Week and Foster Care Week. Our care and protection workers do an absolutely fantastic job. As I mentioned yesterday, I have met some of them. I intend to meet with others during the week. They have raised concerns. As Ms Hunter made mention, one of them was around access to supervision and support, an absolutely key part of their practice. Normally they would receive that through their line manager up through the system, but when we were under the level of stress we were under we upped those line managers for hands-on work and providing more direct service delivery, as a way of describing it. That does not mean to say that those workers should not have the opportunity for and be provided with support, with supervision. I have commenced that conversation with the director-general about putting those systems in place.
As mentioned, the care and protection workers do a fantastic job. Unfortunately, this often goes without praise. There rightly is high scrutiny of child protection matters, but often the workers themselves do not feel they have a voice. In some of the commentary throughout this debate people need to be very careful that we do not mix up a review of systems and processes with the fabulous work that they do. I do not see this review as calling into question their practice. I see this review as looking at the act, how it is implemented, what the alternatives are and what changes we can put in place, if any, to improve those systems that we have.
I want to go on the public record today to highlight the work that the care and protection workers do and offer my regard to them for their professionalism and their devotion to their work. I know that all of their actions are guided by one thing, and that is to protect and to make safe the children in their care. That is their primary and essential obligation under the act, and that is what they get up and get to work to do each and every day. I do want to acknowledge them in the debate.
I will table the redacted letter from yesterday, but I do find it quite galling. I table the following paper:
Children and Young People Act 2008—Possible breach of section 63—Copy of letter from the Director-General, Community Services Directorate, to the Public Advocate, dated 14 September 2011—Redacted version.
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