Internal report shows Child Protection Department was aware of mother’s drug use for seven years

It wasn’t until a baby tested positive to a cocktail of drugs that the Child Protection Department finally took them away, an internal report reveals.

An alarming internal report reveals the Child Protection Department took seven years to remove children from their drug-addicted mother’s care, despite nearly 30 welfare concern notifications.

The report obtained by The Advertiser shows officials were first notified of the mother’s drug use in October 2013, while she was 32 weeks pregnant with her first child.

However, her three kids were not removed from her care until April 2021 – and only after her youngest child tested positive to a cocktail of drugs when just four days old.

The baby tested positive for cannabis, opiates and benzodiazepines, a psychoactive drug used to treat anxiety and depression.

Two weeks after his birth, department workers visited the mother’s home where she was “observed to be significantly under the influence of illicit substances” and “on one occasion, vomiting while she was breastfeeding him”.

The newborn and siblings, aged seven and four at the time, were removed from the home.

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Two children are now in the care of family members and one is in care of the department.

A relative of the children told The Advertiser they were “disgusted” and “gobsmacked” it had taken so long for the department to act.

“How many children have to die?” they said.

“They could very well have died. Had the door not been answered another calling card would have been left.”

It comes a fortnight after Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard told The Advertiser that parents found to be using methamphetamine should have children removed from their care.

According to the report, prepared by a social worker, the department received multiple notifications since 2013 that “raised concerns” about the mum’s use of cocaine, methamphetamine and cannabis while caring for her children.

The report, written in May 2021, states the department held concerns at the time of writing about the mother’s “current illicit substance use”, particularly cannabis and GHB, also known as gamma hydroxybutyrate, a psychoactive party drug.

It states: “Departmental records indicate a significant and entrenched history of … use of illicit substances dating back to 2013 with information indicating that she (the mother) continued to use substances during her pregnancy.”

Concerns were also raised in the report that the mother had provided one of the children with cannabis oil to calm her down.

Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard. Picture: Emma Brasier.

The department was also aware that the child was displaying “inappropriate sexualised behaviours” toward her sibling and reports had been made that the children “sleep in the same bed as men that they do not know”.

The report states that the department “intervened” with the family on several occasions, for periods ranging from two weeks to four months, before determining each time that no further intervention was required.

Department deputy chief executive Fiona Ward said the department could not comment on specific cases.

On Wednesday, Ms Hildyard said the misuse of methamphetamines was “of deep concern” and “in households where it is known that there is meth use by a parent, further action must be taken”.