The Auditor-General warns Victoria’s most vulnerable children in care are ‘at risk’

The Premier denied claims the state’s child protection system failed kids after a damning report revealed regular safety checks had not been carried out.

Premier Daniel Andrews has acknowledged the child protection system needs to “do better” in protecting vulnerable children, but stopped short of saying his government had failed them.

Mr Andrews, responding to the Herald Sun’s report on failures exposed in the Auditor-General’s scathing review into kinship care, said the department would make changes to improve the system.

Asked if his government had failed vulnerable kids, Mr Andrews responded: “I wouldn’t say that at all”.

“We accept the findings and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that the system does better,” he added.

Mr Andrews said checks were made before a child is placed in care.

“It’s not like there’s no oversight at all, however, we obviously need to do better as a system,” he said.

But Mr Andrews was adamant there was a strong enough emphasis on the child protection portfolio.

In the past year, there have been three Child Protection Ministers.

It come as a scathing report revealed that fewer than 1 per cent of ­annual safety checks on vulnerable children in kinship care were being carried out on time, and the vast majority were not happening at all.

Damning findings have revealed the Andrews government has no records of “the safety and stability” of thousands of kids in the state’s child protection system.

Less than 1 per cent of assessments to check the child in care’s progress, wellbeing and development and the placement stability were conducted on time. Picture: iStock

A few weeks ago, the Herald Sun exposed thousands of Victoria’s most vulnerable children had no allocated case workers.

The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) on Wednesday revealed an alarming 0.9 per cent of annual required checks on children in kinship care – that assesses their progress, wellbeing and development – were conducted on time. A disturbing 85 per cent of checks were not completed at all.

Opposition child protection spokesman Matt Bach accused the Andrews government of failing to keep the state’s most vulnerable children safe. “Kids in care have often experienced unspeakable trauma, including sustained sexual and physical abuse – so the fact the Andrews government is not even bothering to check if these kids are safe and well, is both cruel and shameful,” he said.

Kinship, the fastest-growing form of out-of-home care, refers to the support provided by relatives or a member of a child’s social network when they cannot live with their parents. It differs to foster and residential care.

Three vital checks are supposed to take place when kids enter kinship care. The first is meant to happen within a week, the second within six weeks and third is an annual check-in to ensure ongoing welfare.

But VAGO found a staggering amount of these checks were never completed at all, with more than half of the six-week assessments – and 85 per cent of the annual targets – having never occurred.

The report revealed 85 per cent of checks weren’t conducted at all. Picture: iStock

The scathing review determined the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) “cannot be ­assured that it is providing timely, safe and stable placements for children and young people at risk”.

“This puts children in care at risk because DFFH cannot confirm if they are being cared for in a safe environment,” it read. Commissioner for Children and Young People Liana Buchanan said the report was “yet another illustration of the extent to which an overstretched system puts children at risk”.

“Failing to assess placements means children and carers do not get the support they need and, at worst, means children are in unsafe placements,” Ms Buchanan said.

“Either outcome compounds these children’s trauma. We have 7500 children in kinship care in Victoria; they deserve better.”

Mr Bach said in part, Victoria’s most vulnerable children were the “silent and forgotten victims of Labor’s ongoing corruption woes”, accusing the government of neglecting the portfolio.

Senior minister Luke Donnellan was forced to resign from the position following public anti-corruption hearings, which alleged he paid for party memberships.

“In the midst of Labor’s ­factional turmoil and navel-gazing, Victoria’s most vulnerable children have been forgotten,” Dr Bach said.

Daniel Andrews’ newest cabinet member, Anthony Carbines, has since assumed the portfolio.

A government spokeswoman said kinship carers were typically female and grandparents, who must pass police and working-with-children checks within 21 days of commencing care.

“Removing a child from their family is a decision of last resort; the safety of a child or young person being placed in out-of-home care is always the primary concern,” she said.

VAGO made 12 recommendations, calling on the government to strengthen its oversight of the sector.

The government accepted all recommendations and has developed an action plan, to be implemented by June 2023.

Originally published as The Auditor-General warns Victoria’s most vulnerable children in care are ‘at risk’