Page 1608 - Week 05 - Thursday, 15 May 2014
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under at the entry of care to ensure the child is reunified with their birth family promptly or placed with a permanent alternative family. I propose to reduce the length of time necessary for a stable placement before an enduring parental responsibility order can be made from the existing two years to one year.
The second strand of reform involves creating a continuum of care, which brings together all of the service elements designed to support children and young people who cannot safely return to their families. It provides a significant role for non-government providers in case management of children on long-term orders and focuses on providing all children and young people in care with a permanent family placement.
The strategy also explores the option of professional foster carers for a small group of highly traumatised children and young people who require intensive support of a specialised nature. I also propose to introduce some extended assistance to young people up to the age of 21 if needed, either through continuing carer subsidies or by providing supported living arrangements for young people who would benefit from ongoing support as they adjust to independence.
The third stream of proposed reform is a mix of initiatives designed to strengthen accountability and ensure a high-functioning care system. These proposals respond to some of the deficiencies in purchasing, regulation and provision of services identified in external reviews and audits. A range of changes designed to ensure the care system operates efficiently and equitably are proposed. They include the introduction of an accreditation system for out-of-home care services consistent with an earlier decision of the government and strengthened contract management and quality assurance.
I am sure that all members are aware of the wonderful work our foster and kinship carers do on behalf of the government and the whole community. Carers have been consulted through a variety of means in developing these proposals.
We have heard from carers that their top six concerns have been: acknowledgement that they know the child better than any other member of the care team, and should be respected for that knowledge; the need to reduce the complexity of the current system, including simplifying the three-way relationship between Care and Protection, agencies and carers; better and more timely information for when a child first comes into care; help with managing children with challenging or worrying behaviours; the ability to be assessed as permanent carers if a child cannot go home to their birth parents, and to have security around that child’s placement as quickly as possible; and the need to increase the availability of respite and other services which would reduce pressure on carers and facilitate them spending quality time with the child.
I can assure carers that we have spent time listening to them and developing a strategy that will address those concerns.
I would now like to turn to a final but very important issue—the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care. Indigenous communities around Australia are united in their desire to keep children at home, within their families and their communities—and where those children must enter care, to have them cared for by kin as much as possible.
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