Lauren Novak: Changed Families SA the only way to do better

FAMILIES SA workers have barely come to grips with the last radical shake-up of their operations — now they will have to start again.

Child Protection Royal Comissioner Margaret Nyland.

• Families SA to be separated from Education Department
• Our horrific string of child protection disasters

FAMILIES SA workers have barely come to grips with the last radical shake-up of their operations — now they will have to start again.

In late 2011, the child protection agency was merged into the Education Department, bringing the welfare of almost every South Australian under the age of 18 under the one umbrella.

In late 2013, another restructure split its staff into specialist hubs.

Before that, there was the Layton Report in 2003 and the Mullighan inquiries in 2008 and the changes which stemmed from them.

Now, the Government promises that the early recommendations of the Nyland Royal Commission — to dismantle the merger and create a Child Protection Department — can fix the system.

We’ve been here before, but the experience has often been more of the same and a failure to implement recommendations from the latest inquiry before a new one begins.

Anyone who has read the front page of The Advertiser in recent years could tell you what the overriding problems are with our state’s child protection system.

It is understaffed, overstretched and morale is, understandably, flagging.

On August 5, we will learn the full extent of the Nyland reforms to come. There will need to be more funding, much of it spent on hiring more staff. But cultural change is crucial.

Ms Nyland has called for the new child protection chief to have “credibility” in the field.

That would seem to be common sense, but it was a key criticism levelled after the appointment of former senior police officer Tony Harrison to the merged department’s top job.

Ms Nyland has also indicated a further clean-out is likely to be needed to deliver “refreshed leadership”.

This will mean more upheaval for the workforce charged with protecting at-risk kids — but for the sake of those children, we’ve got to do it right this time.