Child protection report blasts Minister Rachel Sanderson, department

The Child Protection Minister “failed”, and child sex abuse while in state care is not seen as a “sufficiently serious crime” by her department, a report says.

Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson failed to make it clear to the Child Protection Department she wanted to be told about sexual abuse cases involving children in state care, an independent review has found.

The inquiry also found the department’s current reporting procedure is a “mess”.

The Opposition is calling on Premier Steven Marshall to sack Ms Sanderson over the findings.

The State Government on Tuesday released a review into the Child Protection Department’s bungled handling of the sexual abuse of two children in state care.

It has accepted all recommendations handed down in the inquiry and plans to immediately work towards implementing them.

The inquiry was launched in December after it was revealed two 13-year-old girls in state care fell pregnant to paedophiles and Ms Sanderson was unaware of the incidents until two men were convicted and sentenced for sexually abusing the children.

Former Judge Paul Rice led the review and handed his report to the government on February 9.

His report stated there were “significant procedural shortcomings within the department with respect to critical incident policies and procedures”.

Premier Steven Marshall stands beside Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson at a press conference regarding the Rice Review. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

It said the reporting procedures relating to when the Minister should be informed of such serious incidents were ambiguous and staff involved in the two girls’ cases were unaware of the existence of a policy requiring them to escalate the cases to more senior staff.

The report also blamed “child protection fatigue” for the failure to report the incident to the Minister.

“Child sexual abuse of those under guardianship is just one of those many crimes against children with which they must deal,” it read.

“It is not seen, from within, as a sufficiently serious crime about which the Minister must know.

“It is for those reasons that I doubt, even if the correct procedures had been followed, that the Minister would have been informed.”

The report also stated Ms Sanderson had an expectation when she became Minister that she would be told about pregnancies “although she does not think she said that to the Chief Executive or Deputy Chief Executive or put it in writing”.

It said it was “crucial for the Minister to tell the Department that she wanted to know about the serious sexual abuse of children under guardianship”.

“This was a significant failure on the Minister’s part,” it read.

“Expectations were insufficient; these matters should have been articulated and put in writing.”

The report went on to state it was not sufficient to have unarticulated expectations and Ms Sanderson’s role “should be proactive”.

“It must be said that the current reporting procedure is a mess,” it read.

“It is confusing as to what level of incident is meant to be captured by it, the applicable criteria and is inconsistent as to matters that are or should be brought to the attention of the Minister. It is silent as to pregnancy.”

Asked if she took any responsibility for her role in the failings, Ms Sanderson said “the review was about a reporting procedure”.

“I did oversee the significant incident flowchart and I agree it is unclear,” she said.

“It is complicated and it will be rewritten and made very clear and unambiguous and there will be an extensive education program to ensure that all staff are aware of their reporting obligations.”

Ms Sanderson said she met regularly with the department’s chief executive and had made her expectations “abundantly clear”.

Opposition child protection spokeswoman Katrine Hildyard said it was not good enough and called for Ms Sanderson to be sacked.

“It is absolutely clear that she is not up to this job,” she said.

“The report makes it absolutely clear that the failure in relation to the abuse of these two girls in state care and the lack of knowledge by the Minister and department lie at the Minister’s door – she needs to take responsibility for them.”

The inquiry looked into how staff report alleged criminal conduct against a child in care; whether those policies align with past inquiries; the failure to inform Ms Sanderson of the two cases; and disciplinary measures for staff who fail to report incidents.

The review’s recommendations included:

THAT the chief executive be asked to develop instructions and guidance that ensure that the Minister and senior department officers are advised as soon as reasonably possible of any allegation of a serious criminal act against a client of the department.

THAT the Minister advise the chief executive, in writing, about what events/incidents about which she wants to be informed. This process should take place when the Minister takes office and be reviewed on an ongoing and regular basis.

THAT the chief executive undertake a comprehensive staff education program directed towards a knowledge and use of the existing incident management procedure.

THAT consideration be given by the government to increasing the maximum penalty for a breach of written directions to three years, for a first contravention, and four years, for a second and subsequent contraventions.

As well as accepting these recommendations, the government has also announced it will establish a permanent ‘significant incident reporting unit’ to be led by the Crown Solicitor’s nominee.

Furthermore, it will also ask the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment to oversee a staff education program to ensure the incident management procedure was understood and implemented.

Attorney-General Vickie Chapman will introduce legislation into state parliament within 30 days to give effect to these recommendations.

“Accepting the recommendations of Mr Rice QC’s review is only the start,” she said.

“We must have the mechanisms in place to ensure those recommendations are implemented efficiently.”

Ms Sanderson said it was “clear that the current significant incident reporting is overly complex and the Department for Child Protection will now take this opportunity to rewrite the policy to be clear and concise, as well as undertake an education program for staff.”

State Cabinet first considered the report last Thursday and then again on Monday before releasing it on Tuesday.

The identities of the children involved have been redacted.

In September, Matthew McIntyre, 35, was jailed for two years for abusing and impregnating a 13-year-old girl in state care after grooming her via a dating app.

The Child Protection Department amended its reporting policies after Ms Sanderson revealed she was not aware of the case until after McIntyre was sentenced.

However, three months later, Philip Edwin McIntosh was sentenced to more than six years in jail for maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl, also in state care.

Ms Sanderson again said she was not told about the case and only became aware of it after McIntosh was sentenced.

McIntosh met the girl in a Hindley St nightclub.

The Opposition has criticised the Government for taking over a week to make public the report.

In 2016, the Nyland royal commission report into the child protection system was handed to the then-Labor Government on a Friday and was released the following Monday.