CHILD PROTECTION

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (14:39): Will the Minister for Families and Communities advise the house on the progress of important child protection initiatives?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Northern Suburbs, Minister for Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability) (14:39): This week is National Child Protection Week, where the national spotlight is rightly placed on how we keep our children safe. The Rann government has a proud record when it comes to child protection. So, I think it is appropriate that I draw the house's attention to a very important initiative introduced by our government, which has a strong focus on early intervention and strengthening families before they fall into difficulties with child protection agencies.

The Stronger Families, Safer Children program is part of a $190 million injection of funds into child protection in South Australia, the largest ever. These funds also provided for an important increase in payments and supports to our very important foster carers around the state. I inform the house that we are also continuing to see an increase in the number of foster carers and relative carers, meaning that we now have an increase of around 40 per cent over the past five years.

The Stronger Family, Safer Children program aims to strengthen at risk families before they fall into crisis. The initiative has been introduced for families who without expert assistance are likely to become separated due to child protection concerns. By working intensively with specialist social workers, parents learn the skills needed to look after their children to ensure that the family can stay together in the long term.

The initiative is a South Australian first and engages non-government organisations to provide high-level parenting skills and supports. When needed, they also link families to other social services, such as drug counselling and financial hardship assistance.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are a focus area for these services. Services provided through the program reflect the social and cultural dimensions of good practice work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. By working together with non-government organisations, we make positive connections with families that we otherwise may not. Involvement with NGOs helps break down barriers and puts us in a better position to achieve the outcomes of stabilising and supporting families and creating safe environments where children feel encouraged to grow and learn.

Stronger Families, Safer Children bolsters the family unit with intensive and expert engagement, leading ultimately to a happier outcome for many children and their families. This work is being undertaken in close partnership with Families SA district centres.

Within the next year, the initiative aims to reduce the number of children being placed under guardianship orders by more than 100, and will continue to grow. Fifty families are already being helped. Over four years, the initiative will reach more than 500 families with its three distinct programs: targeted early intervention, intensive placement prevention and reunification support services.

This government will continue to deliver family support services that help vulnerable families and prevent children from entering or becoming entrenched in the child protection and care system. Safe families build stronger communities, and this is one of the keys to continuing growth and prosperity for South Australians.