SA Child Protection Department boss Jackie Bray asks deputy to leave role

The deputy’s future with the department has been decided under changes imposed by her new boss, following former chief executive Cathy Taylor’s resignation.

Child Protection Department deputy chief executive Fiona Ward will leave the agency next month, under changes imposed by her new boss.

Department chief executive Jackie Bray has written to staff today to tell them Ms Ward will leave on July 5.

There has been speculation about Ms Ward’s future with the department since it was announced in late January that former department boss Cathy Taylor had resigned.

Department chief executive Jackie Bray has written to staff to tell them Ms Ward will leave on July 5. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Ms Taylor left her post on April 28 but Ms Bray did not take up the role until June 1.

Ms Ward did not step up to Acting Chief Executive during that time and, instead, Public Sector Employment Commissioner Erma Ranieri was installed as interim leader.

In a short letter to staff sent on Thursday Ms Bray said: “As we move forward with the next phase of our agenda, I have taken a decision to look at the role of DCE (deputy chief executive) and how this position can be shaped in the future to support and enable the department in a refreshed environment, and my position as Chief Executive”.

Outgoing deputy chief executive Fiona Ward.

It is unclear at this stage if Ms Ward will be replaced.

Ms Ward was appointed deputy chief executive in 2017.

In recent years the department has come under increasing scrutiny over high-profile deaths of children known to the agency.

Multiple independent inquiries have also called into question the culture of the department.

Ms Bray said Ms Ward had “made a significant and outstanding contribution to child protection at a state and national level over many decades of public service, and I know colleagues will find ways in the coming weeks to acknowledge this work and legacy”.

On Wednesday Ms Bray was asked on ABC Radio if she would be making changes to her senior leadership team and replied: “I’ve got some thoughts on that”.

“It is necessary for you to have the right people around you to take the system forward,” she said.

“Are the structures in place for me to take this particular child protection system where we need to go?”