More than 14,000 calls to child abuse hotline have gone unanswered in the past six months

MORE than 14,000 calls to report suspected child abuse have gone unanswered in the past six months.

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MORE than 14,000 calls to report suspected child abuse have gone unanswered in the past six months.

If more is not done to improve the response, and reports to the child abuse hotline continue at the same rate, the number of abandoned calls is on track to reach a record high this financial year.

Data published by the Child Protection Department online shows 14,139 calls to the Child Abuse Report Line were abandoned between June and November, or 42 per cent of a total 33,047 calls made.

Over the past five financial years more than 114,400 calls have gone unanswered.

South Australia’s department has been shown to be underperforming in comparison with similar call centres interstate.

Figures released in Victoria this week show fewer calls go unanswered there despite that state having a population three and a half times larger than SA.

Last financial year the SA call centre received 67,443 phone calls, but 28,497 were abandoned before a social worker answered.

In Victoria 13,101 calls to that state’s hotline went unanswered over the same period.

About 6900 calls were abandoned there over the past six months compared to more than 14,000 over five months in SA.

Opposition child protection spokeswoman Rachel Sanderson

Child Protection Department chief executive Cathy Taylor

The longest wait time to reach the Victorian call centre was two hours and 22 minutes.

The Advertiser has previously reported that one South Australian caller has waited on hold for almost seven hours to make a report.

The current average wait time in SA is about an hour and five minutes — up from 11 minutes in 2011.

Opposition child protection spokeswoman Rachel Sanderson said the rate of calls going unanswered was “completely unacceptable”.

“Children continue to be left in danger ... imagine if we had the same statistic for the police, ambulance or fire (callouts)” she said.

To meet demand, SA authorities have increased the number of fulltime staff in the call centre from 59 in 2013-14 to 74.

Child Protection Department chief executive Cathy Taylor said she would increase staff numbers “to ensure CARL is adequately staffed at all times”.

The Nyland Royal Commission into the state’s child protection system made a raft of recommendations to improve the reporting of suspected child abuse or neglect, which the State Government has accepted.

Responding to the commission, the Government will open a new “front door” for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect which will enable reports to be filtered through not just child protection authorities but other agencies, including health, education, police, corrections and housing.

Ms Taylor has also committed to a 12-month trial of a call-back feature for the CARL hotline in 2017.