Children’s Court cases reveal NSW child protection system in need of significant reform, says Families Minister Kate Washington
Magistrate Tracy Sheedy has called the treatment of 7yo Lucinda ‘unfathomable’. She’s not alone.
Significant changes to child protection in NSW are being flagged following a number of court cases that have exposed serious failings.
Families and Communities Minister Kate Washington said the Minns Labor government had inherited a “broken” child protection system, which it was determined to fix.
Her comments follow concerns raised by Children’s Court magistrate Tracy Sheedy about the processes behind a decision to remove a seven-year-old Indigenous girl with special needs from her foster parents and place her with a great uncle and his partner. “It is unfathomable that such a complex decision and a decision with lifelong consequences for a seven-year-old child would be made with such little consideration,’’ Ms Sheedy said.
An internal review is under way into the case after Ms Sheedy identified serious failures in a kinship assessment undertaken by a private provider, and the follow-up actions of a caseworker.
The kinship assessment formed the basis of the department’s decision to remove the child, known as Lucinda, from her foster carers, where she was thriving and happy, and place her with a great uncle, who does not identify as Indigenous, and his partner who had recently discovered Aboriginal heritage. The little girl had met the couple only twice.
The court heard Lucinda’s Indigenous mother wanted her to remain with the foster parents and was firmly opposed to the child moving in with her great uncle.
In her judgment earlier this year, Ms Sheedy found that the independent assessment into the suitability of the uncle and his partner was limited and unreliable, while the benefits of keeping Lucinda with her foster carers, who are not Aboriginal, was not properly explored.
“Lucinda is reported to have a strong attachment to her carers and calls them mum and dad. She has settled into her school and is happy in her school community,” the magistrate said. “Nowhere in the (department) secretary’s material could I find that the advantages to Lucinda remaining in her current placement were properly considered.”
Ms Sheedy outlined the risks associated with superficial and substandard assessments. “The duty to be objective and thorough and not to mislead is vital in assessments because the child’s future welfare, which is a matter of extreme importance, is at stake,’’ she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Communities and Justice said an internal review into the matter would be completed by the end of the month.
The case follows a NSW Supreme Court decision late last year when a judge granted a restraining order to prevent the department moving a young boy from his foster carers to live with an uncle and aunt. That case also revolved around whether the department had properly considered the foster carers as suitable long-term carers for the child.
The department again came under fire last year when Ms Sheedy issued a devastating judgment outlining abuse and “appalling neglect’’ of two boys in residential care.
She said despite the external provider quoting approximately $18,000 a month to care for the two boys, they complained of going hungry and not having warm clothes or adequate shoes.
“The children have experienced, since removal from their mother in a police raid, multiple placements, multiple carers, separation from siblings, abuse in care, a lack of stability and ongoing uncertainty,’’ she said.
A DCJ spokesperson said an independent review had been completed and further analysis and actions were under way.
In relation to this case and that of Lucinda, the department acknowledged “that the judgments do not reflect the standard of care the community expects”.
Ms Washington confirmed the state government was committed to fixing a “broken child protection system in need of significant reform”.
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