Adelaide youth worker awarded compensation after being bashed by 10-year-old at child protection department facility

A youth worker was sent spiralling into depression after being bashed by a 10-year-old boy, as her co-worker hid. Now she’s been given compo.

A youth worker who cared for troubled children has been awarded compensation for psychological damages after she was abandoned by her colleague while being bashed by a 10-year-old boy.

The worker, aged in her 50s, had been employed by the Child Protection Department for more than 15 years at the time of the attack at a facility for adolescent children in Enfield.

In a decision made last month but only just published, the South Australian Employment Tribunal overturned an internal decision by the Child Protection Department to cancel weekly payments of compensation.

On January 1, 2018, the worker was rostered on with another youth worker at the Enfield facility.

They were caring for a 10-year-old boy, who had a history of violence towards carers and other children.

The worker gave evidence that about two hours into the shift, and without warning, the boy threw a video game console at her, which fell to the floor and broke.

The boy then started hitting, punching and kicking her.

The worker said she could not recall calling out for help but watched as her colleague fled into another room in the building and locked herself in.

She described the attack as “particularly vicious and that she was in fear of her life” and said the child was exhibiting a “high level of rage and aggression”.

He pulled her to the ground and she felt her neck jar during what she estimated to be a 15-minute assault.

The bashing had stopped by the time a third worker arrived. The worker’s colleague only came out of the locked room when the third worker arrived.

In the weeks after the attack, the worker had to get a cortisone injection in her neck to help treat an injury from the bashing.

She also begun to feel stressed and anxious about returning to the Enfield facility.

She was placed on light duties but told the tribunal she did not feel well-supported by the department and was performing “meaningless” tasks.

The tribunal heard she was “hyper-vigilant” and always on high alert.

During her time performing light duties at a similar facility at Hampstead House she witnessed numerous acts of violence and aggression by children towards staff.

The worker’s mental health declined and she was hospitalised after attempting to take her own life and diagnosed with major depression.

The tribunal ordered the department pay 18 months’ worth of compensation payments to the worker in addition to interest and her legal fees.

Originally published as Adelaide youth worker awarded compensation after being bashed by 10-year-old at child protection department facility