Nigel Hunt: Jay Weatherill uses same words a decade apart as he pledges action on child abuse
PREMIER Jay Weatherill’s statements at a press conference on Monday following the release of the Nyland Royal Commission report were eerily similar to those he made a decade ago — on the same subject.
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SOUTH Australians could easily be forgiven for thinking Monday was Groundhog Day.
A forlorn, sullen looking Premier Jay Weatherill stood before a packed press conference and apologised unreservedly for his government’s total, abject failure in protecting children in its care.
Unveiling a $200 million injection into the child protection system, he promised his government could, and would do better in future.
It would heed the recommendations of Royal Commissioner Margaret Nyland and implement the dozens of changes she has put forward to fix a child protection system in “disarray.’’
“What we have, for the first time I believe, is a comprehensive and intelligent solution to this problem,’’ Mr Weatherill told journalists on Monday.
While that sounds terrific, it also sounds way too familiar. That’s because we heard virtually the same spiel a decade ago in a column then Families and Communities Minister Weatherill wrote for The Advertiser.
In the June 2004 column he spoke of the increase in abuse reports over the previous decade and how the system “struggled to cope’’. He unveiled a raft of new measures to improve it.
“Despite the best efforts of individual, dedicated and hardworking staff, our key agency responsible for child protection is in need of refocusing and rebuilding,’’ he wrote.\
“There is now a need for a fundamental culture change and a new sense of direction.’’
The column followed the allocation of an extra $148 million for rebuilding child protection services in the wake of Robyn Layton QC’s landmark Child Protection Review. Yesterday, now Premier Weatherill allocated another $200 million over four years for the same purpose.
It is abundantly clear that the past decade has been one of wasted opportunities. The fact the system is in a worse state today as identified by Commissioner Nyland, even with that $148 million injection, is an indictment.
The government has dismally failed in one of its most basic, fundamental duties — to protect the most vulnerable.
While this is now clear, it must be noted the workload of Families SA has increased dramatically. Over the past decade the number of children in state care has more than doubled to around 3300 from “just’’ 1200 when Premier Weatherill was Families and Communities Minister. And alarmingly, one in four children are now the subject of some sort of notification.
And Premier Weatherill obviously thought his merger of Families SA and the Education Department would prove beneficial. While done with the best of intentions, he has finally conceded it has not worked and is taking the axe to it — but only after prompting by Commissioner Nyland.
Perhaps one of the most significant of Commissioner Nyland’s stipulations is that the government regularly report on its progress in implementing her recommendations.
Unlike many of the Layton recommendations, such as the much-delayed appointment of a Children’s Commissioner, a central data system and using experienced operators on the Care Abuse Report Line, the government would be foolhardy to put any of Commissioner Nyland’s aside.
It is a shame that it took the discovery of vile acts committed by one Families SA carer to prompt such a wideranging analysis of the entire child protection system. Why weren’t many of the failings now identified picked up by those running the organisation years ago and funds provided then to try and fix them?
There is also one more salient question South Australian’s should be pondering in the wake of the Nyland report.
And that is, just where would SA’s child protection system be in another 10 years if Shannon McCoole did not exist?
Jay Weatherill’s statement in 2004
IT is a sad fact that reports of suspected child abuse and neglect have escalated dramatically over the past decade and our services and programs designed to help those affected, have struggled to cope.
Our first duty, above all others, is to act quickly when there are threats to the safety of children. We shall continue to rigorously investigate abuse and maltreatment and to pursue the perpetrators of crimes against children and young people. They will be subjected to the judgment of our courts.
In all of this, we have not forgotten the adult survivors of child abuse, especially those who have suffered through the inadequacies of state care. A new suite of case management services will be delivered by an independent non-government agency Relationships Australia and will be up and running in early July.
Despite the best efforts of individual, dedicated and hardworking staff, our key agency responsible for child protection is in need of refocusing and rebuilding. There is now a need for a fundamental culture change and a new sense of direction.
We must be much more diligent in the care we provide to our children under the guardianship of the Minister, do more to support parents, foster carers and other caregivers and be more outwardly focused in building and maintaining our partnerships with other sectors and other levels of government. From tomorrow, July 1, the agency responsible for the care of our children will become part of a new Department of Families and Communities which will also take in housing, disability and ageing.
This will help to provide a clear focus for our child protection reform agenda.
To guide the work of the new department, we have developed Keeping Them Safe, a bold new direction for child protection policy.
It is imperative we do our best by our children and Keeping Them Safe is an invitation to all who share this conviction to join us in this task. Parents, families, communities and governments all have an obligation to help children flourish. Keeping them safe from harm, in a way that is sustained and assures their well being, is the responsibility of us all.
The need for change is indisputable. The system we have has, in some areas, fallen out of step. It does not always align well with current thinking on the most effective responses to protect children at risk of harm. Early intervention, a focus on the early years, approaches that consider the child and the family and co-ordinated action across government agencies are critical for success.
We speak the words but don’t always act according to these ideals. We want to make sure this practical and proven wisdom is consistently applied and becomes a coherent strategy that drives our reform program.
Sharing information more efficiently, maintaining quality systems and enhancing the competence of our workers who operate in a complex and demanding environment, are all reforms aimed at tackling systemic issues that are barriers to progress.
We know through the landmark Review of Child Protection by Robyn Layton, QC, that our child protection system has been allowed to run down over the past decade. Her comprehensive review has provided us with a guide to rebuilding child protection in SA.
Already, we have committed $58.6 million over four years for child protection services, a further 73 workers into Family and Youth Services, $148.1 million towards the rebuilding of our child protection system in the May State Budget and we have just begun hiring 186 new child protection workers.
We will continue to build on our response to the Layton Report in the light of the impact of our early reforms.
Jay Weatherill was SA Minister for Families and Communities from March 2004 to July 2008.
