Twelve kids in state care went missing for four days because their addresses were in a spreadsheet

It took the Department of Communities four days to find 12 children under its care because their location was not entered into the usual software used to store confidential information.

The case study was unearthed in a probe by Auditor General Caroline Spencer who on Friday delivered a scathing report about the department’s record-keeping software, known as Assist.

Twelve kids were lost for four days because of the ageing software.Credit: John Donegan

“My office’s audit of Assist found significant weaknesses that risk the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the system and vulnerable peoples’ information,” Spencer said.

“Assist is a flawed system that does not appropriately support Communities to manage its interactions with children and families.”

Assist is used to store confidential information about some of the most vulnerable children in the state.

According to Spencer, Assist has been used since 2010 and stores the current and historic personally identifiable information of more than 180,000 children, 218,000 family groups and 38,000 carers.

It also contains reports of suspected or confirmed child abuse and the details of victims, witnesses and perpetrators.

Spencer said the department did not effectively manage the confidentiality, integrity and availability of Assist and that 2500 staff had unfettered access to every record in the system.

She also said the quality of information in the app was poor which impacted the ability of child protection workers to complete their work properly.

The most shocking case study revealed that early last year 12 children were missing because their locations were not stored in Assist.

“In early 2024, it took a business unit in Communities four days to determine the location of 12 children as the information was not in Assist but stored in a separate spreadsheet,” Spencer said.

“The location was needed for an independent assessor to visit children in Communities’ care.”

Communities has begun the process to replace the software but this may not happen until 2028.

The department accepted all aspects of Spencer’s three recommendations to improve the use of Assist while new software was being developed.

“Communities has initiated actions where appropriate to enhance its existing processes and procedures, and information management and controls for system access,” the department said.

“Communities is committed to addressing the findings identified and will continue to pursue maturing our capabilities in cybersecurity and audit controls and information governance, management and privacy awareness.”

A spokesman said funding had been allocated to outline the scope of the new software which would inform its delivery.