Audit reveals how many SA babies child protection workers are taking into state care each year

The review has prompted a series of new directions from the minister after it was show many families had no warning their children would be taken.

More than 430 newborns have been taken from their mothers by authorities before they are even one week old, new figures reveal.

In some cases child protection workers have given a mother no warning before removing the baby – and failed to record any official reason why she was kept in the dark.

Releasing the findings of an audit into the removal of newborns by her department, SA Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard has promised changes to ensure future cases are handled “with compassion and respect”.

The audit, done by health consultant Katina D’Onise, reveals how many very young children have been taken into state care each year since 2019.

There were 438 cases where a newborn was removed by department staff within a week of birth.

The annual number has fallen from 84 to 71 last year.

Another 167 babies were removed in their first month of life – down from 39 to 21 over the same period.

These babies would have been the subject of “unborn child concerns”, flagged with authorities while a mother is pregnant.

South Australia child protection minister,Katrine Hildyard. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

Concerned family, friends, doctors and others can lodge concerns from the time a baby reaches 20 weeks’ gestation.

Often parents are the subject of multiple reports, which could relate to substance abuse, self-harm, mental illness, homelessness or violence, as well as poor parenting skills or an unwillingness to make changes to keep a child safe.

In 2021 Ms Hildyard – who was then in Opposition – told The Advertiser the number of newborn removals was “an alarming call to action and deserves immediate attention from the government”.

On Wednesday, Ms Hildyard noted that the number of infants removed each year was “steadily decreasing”.

“The expectation is that a removal is only undertaken in circumstances where there is a genuine concern that an infant could be seriously harmed,” she said.

“The state government never wants to remove babies but, sadly, there are really difficult and complex circumstances where we are rightly required to do so to keep children safe.

“I wanted to be assured that practices in these heartbreaking circumstances are the best they possibly can be.”

Professor D’Onise’s audit found “a number of cases” where there was “no communication” with a mother about serious concerns for her baby’s safety before birth.

“For some of these cases there was a documented rationale for why the information was not shared prior to removal, but many did not have a documented reason to not inform about the pending removal,” she wrote.

In response to the audit findings, Ms Hildyard has directed her department to ensure:

A FAMILY group conference is offered in every case where a concern raised about an unborn child is proven, to examine ways to keep the child safe with relatives.

ABORIGINAL consultants are involved in decisions about the removal of Aboriginal children.

FURTHER training is given to high risk infant workers.

COMMUNICATION is consistent between health, child protection and other department staff.

RESEARCH is done to develop “nation-leading” guidance on the best approach when babies must be removed from unsafe parents.

Originally published as Audit reveals how many SA babies child protection workers are taking into state care each year