Children killed in alleged triple murder at Hillier ‘hardly attended school’, Opposition says

SCHOOL records show that two children killed in an alleged triple murder at Hillier last month were hardly attending school, the Opposition says.

Hillier murder victims Korey, 5, and Amber, 6. Source: Facebook

• SHOCKING DISCOVERY: Police find bodies of mum, two children at Hillier
• TRIBUTES: ‘My heart is torn between grief and fury’
• ATTENDANCE: Parents of chronic truants would be fined under crackdown flagged by Minister

SCHOOL records show that two children killed in an alleged triple murder at Hillier last month were hardly attending school, the Opposition says.

It comes as the Royal Commissioner examining the state’s child protection system confirmed she will not hold an investigation into the involvement of Families SA with Amber, 6, and Korey, 5, who were killed along with their mother, Yvette Rigney-Wilson.

The child protection agency has confirmed it was in contact with the family.

Child Protection Reform Minister John Rau had referred documents related to the children to Royal Commissioner Margaret Nyland.

A spokeswoman for Ms Nyland said she had considered the information but decided not to investigate the individual case further.

A police investigation is ongoing.

Ms Nyland is due to deliver an extensive report recommending reforms to the child protection system on August 5.

Liberal child protection spokeswoman Rachel Sanderson on Wednesday released the records, obtained from family members of Amber and Korey.

They show Amber was absent from school for 37 of the 55 days in Term 1 this year, and often arrived late or left early on other days.

A separate letter sent to Korey’s mother raised concerns that he was not attending an education centre where he was enrolled.

“We know ... that truancy and extended non-attendance at school is a red flag and a really serious sign that there’s possible neglect going on,” Ms Sanderson said.

Responding to Ms Sanderson, Mr Rau said her “continuous attention-seeking” about the Hillier case “is unfortunate”.

He reaffirmed his position that it was appropriate for government authorities to wait for police to complete their investigation into the deaths.

The school attendance rate across South Australia was 90.7 per cent last year.

Missing 10 days out of a school term is classified as “chronic non-attendance” and can trigger prosecution of a parent but so far no case has proceeded to court.

Schools are not required to report chronic absence to the Education Department but each is expected to follow up and monitor cases to assess the need for further intervention.

A new Absence Alert program enables schools to generate reports on students who are absent between five and nine consecutive days or 10 or more days.

Education and Child Development Minister Susan Close flagged in the Sunday Mail in March that she wanted to introduce the option of an out-of-court fine for parents who allowed their children to repeatedly miss school without explanation.

Other reforms being considered include:

ADDING attendance rates to the list of performance measures evaluated during reviews of every public school;

IDENTIFYING all schools where attendance rates are dropping or, for indigenous students, is below 80 per cent; and

GIVING some school staff similar powers to child protection workers to enable them to require meetings between the families of absent children and welfare authorities.