Child Protection Interagency Cooperation

Mr ANDREW STONER: My question is directed to the Minister for Community Services. Given that today's Ombudsman's report found that in 20 out of 29 cases where police sent a risk of harm report to the Department of Community Services there was no evidence that this report was ever received, does the Minister acknowledge that the lack of interagency cooperation between departments is costing young children their lives?

Mr KEVIN GREENE: Most parents do a great job in the challenging and rewarding role of raising children. But the Ombudsman's report tabled today reminds us that some fail their children terribly. I welcome the report and accept the Ombudsman's recommendations. The 2006 report covers the deaths of 123 children, 114 of whom were known to the department and 31 of whom died as a result of abuse or neglect, or in suspicious circumstances. As the Ombudsman says in his report, in most cases the child's death had no connection to their child protection history. Most died from natural causes: prematurity, sudden infant death syndrome, illness, or congenital conditions. No matter how tragic the content of this report, it is essential in helping us identify problems and strengthening the child protection system.

However, this year's report again identifies domestic violence, substance abuse and mental illness as underlying social problems that frequently lead to children entering the child protection system. The Government's State Plan demonstrates our commitment to addressing these underlying problems, but ultimately they are social problems that we must deal with as a community. Every year the department receives reports relating to about 120,000 individual children. We now have over 12,600 children in out-of-home care. We need to remember that less than five years ago there were about 1,200 caseworkers and only 55 per cent of the most urgent reports were allocated to a caseworker. Now there are more than 1,900 caseworkers, with more to come, and almost 100 per cent of the most urgent reports are allocated to a caseworker.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Bathurst will cease interjecting.

Mr Andrew Stoner: Point of order: I again refer to Standing Order 129, which deals with relevance. It is obvious that the Minister has a document in front of him from which he is reading, probably given to him by a staffer. The document has lots of miscellaneous information and lots of statistics but it does not address the issue of interagency cooperation. I ask the Minister to address that issue. He should put the notes aside and answer the question.

The SPEAKER: Order! At this stage there is no point of order. The Minister may continue.

Mr KEVIN GREENE: The reality is that Department of Community Services caseworkers help provide a secure, safe environment for thousands of children every year, and the reform of the department is slowly and steadily delivering results.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wakehurst will cease interjecting.

Mr KEVIN GREENE: The Ombudsman acknowledges that in his work he sees "many examples of good casework, well-protected children and quality decision making". But it is unacceptable that there are cases covered in the Ombudsman's report, some of which have occurred in recent weeks, in which it appears that the system has failed to do everything possible to protect a child. We have to keep improving, and that is why the Wood special commission of inquiry is so important.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of The Nationals will cease interjecting.

Mr KEVIN GREENE: The Ombudsman highlights on page 12 of his report a number of areas of improvement, and how agencies work together to protect children as a result of his previous recommendations, including the new edition of the Interagency Guidelines for Child Protection Intervention published last year, a review of the joint investigation response teams and their criteria by Police, Health and the Department of Community Services, and the development of agreements between the Department of Community Services, Police, Health, and Education and Training in relation to child protection.

We cannot have a Department of Community Services caseworker in every home. But I have made it clear that we will continue to rebuild the child protection system through the reform program, through putting more caseworkers into the system by reviewing our laws, and through the special commission of inquiry. If people in the community are saddened or angered about the abuse and neglect of children and they want to do something to help I ask them to consider becoming a foster carer. The bigger the pool of dedicated carers, the more safe places we have for children.