SA’s spaced-out parents — Child Protection Department testing results show the extent of drug use in at-risk households
ALMOST one in five parents subjected to random drug tests allowed by newly introduced South Australian laws tested positive, The Advertiser can reveal, with cannabis leading the results.
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ALMOST one in five drug tests imposed on parents by child protection authorities return a positive result, most commonly for cannabis and methamphetamines, The Advertiser can reveal.
The Child Protection Department has audited a sample of test results from last financial year to show, for the first time, the prevalence of parental drug use in at-risk households – and committed to conduct reviews every six months to track the problem.
Details released to The Advertiser show the department looked at 30 parents or carers who underwent a total of 70 tests, either voluntarily or by court order.
Of those, 18.8 per cent, or about 13 tests, returned a positive result.
The most commonly used drugs were cannabinoids (60 per cent) followed by methamphetamines, including ice (20 per cent).
New laws, which have been in place for a fortnight, now enable the department to randomly test parents without needing personal consent or a court order, which could lead to more positive results.
Efforts to detect drug abuse among parents have increased significantly in recent years but, until now, the department had been unable to show how many tests returned a positive result or what drugs were involved because of limitations with its IT system.
Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson heavily criticised the department for this in Opposition and, on coming to government earlier this year, asked her department to audit a sample of tests to better understand the risk posed to children by substance abuse.
Ms Sanderson described the findings as “concerning”.
Children are not automatically removed from a home where a parent is using illicit drugs but Ms Sanderson said her department “monitors the family closely to determine whether a child is living in a safe environment and this is reviewed on a case-by-case basis”.
Centacare Catholic Family Services works with parents and children experiencing poverty, abuse, mental illness and substance abuse.
Director Dale West said he expected the rate of positive results to be higher than 18 per cent.
“As a community I think we grossly underestimate how many people would be using some sort of illicit drug,” he said.
“If you look at why families are struggling with their children, drugs and alcohol are a significant issue and the things that flow from that are neglect of the children and domestic violence, use of money for drugs rather than food … and children maybe becoming involved with drugs themselves.”
Latest figures show there have been at least 518 tests conducted since July 1 this year.
The total last financial year reached 1375 tests, slightly down from 1479 in 2016-17.
As few as 190 tests were conducted five years ago.
It is still not known how many parents skip tests, face penalties or have their children removed as a consequence of returning a positive test result.
Child Protection Department chief executive Cathy Taylor said caseworkers ultimately decide whether a child “can be considered safe” in the care of someone using drugs.
They also determine “what services might be made available to support family members, where and with whom the child should live and the contact arrangements that should be in place if the child is not with (the) parents.”
Ms Taylor said the department was developing a new strategy for “modernising our information systems over the next decade” with the aim of automatically reporting on drug test results.
It will conduct six-monthly audits until then.
The 2016 Nyland royal commission into the state’s child protection system highlighted the inadequacy of the department’s IT system to track data such as drug test results and urged a review, which has since been undertaken.