Uniting move hits Victoria’s trouble-plagued child protection system

Victoria’s trouble-plagued child protection system has suffered a major blow, with one of the biggest providers abandoning half of its homes.

A key player in Victoria’s child protection system will exit about half of its homes.

One of the biggest providers of residential care in the state’s child protection system will exit about half of its homes as it says it is not funded to properly look after vulnerable kids.

It comes after the Herald Sun revealed Victoria’s children’s commissioner had issued an urgent call to the Andrews government to fix the system, amid surging cases of sexual exploitation of children.

In another blow to the system, key provider Uniting is moving to change its operations, to focus solely in therapeutic residential care homes, which attract more government funding and allow greater support to manage children under the protection of the state.

Non-therapeutic residential care homes do not receive as much funding, with Uniting Victoria and Tasmania chief executive Bronwyn Pike on Wednesday confirming the service would not run these homes any longer.

She said this represented about half of its operations.

Liana Buchanan has issued an urgent call to fix the ailing system. Picture: Jason Edwards

“We will continue to operate the houses that are funded to the level to provide therapeutic care, but we will no longer run houses that are not funded (to this level),” Ms Pike said.

“The government, I think, is very aware that the whole sector believes this. This is not a new ask and, in fact, the government has provided some temporary funding over the last couple of years to try and bring more houses up to the therapeutic model.

“But we believe we that it should be universal, and we will only work in those homes.”

The government has appointed new services to homes left by Uniting.

A Department of Families, Fairness and Housing spokeswoman said:

“We’re ensuring continuity of quality care for children in all affected residential care homes - we’ll work with the newly appointed providers to ensure their needs are met from day one.

“The Government has increased funding for the residential care system as part of a $2 billion investment in the children and families system over the last three years - including more therapeutic support for children in residential care.”

“In the ones that are funded more appropriately and have the best model of care, we can have more stability.”

The Commissioner for Children and Young People, Liana Buchanan, has called for an overhaul of the troubled residential care system to focus on therapeutic care.

Ms Buchanan said Uniting’s decision was a sign that better government funding for the sector was well overdue.

“They’re doing it because the funding doesn’t allow them to keep children in the way they need to be kept,” she said.

The move has sent the government scrambling to find a new provider, with Uniting making up a large share of the current network.

Opposition child protection spokesman Matt Bach said Victoria needed the therapeutic care model across all homes, adding: “Funding isn’t adequate now.”