Child Protection

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (15:21): Supplementary.

The SPEAKER: If it arises out of the minister's answer.

Ms SANDERSON: How many cases in the past have Families SA had rejected by the Youth Court that they have taken to remove the child?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Education and Child Development) (15:21): I obviously don't have that answer, and I'm happy to take it on notice. But I do know that there are situations where Families SA staff members have been put under considerable pressure by the Youth Court, that they haven't been happy with the extent of the investigation and the justification for applications.

So they are very circumspect and, as I understand, are very cautious about making sure that they are justified when they make applications to the court. I know the member for Adelaide would know there are many instances that her and I have talked about where children have either been taken into care or not returned to their families, or their foster carers who have had them removed, and the reasons why that is. So, it's one of those situations where you can't give a blanket answer.

Social workers go into homes every day dealing with incredibly complex situations. They are not as simple as one line in The Advertiser, they are not always as simple as families present in our electorate offices. The fact remains these social workers every day save children's lives, but they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. There's a select committee underway at the moment, people complaining that children have been taken away from them, and then we have situations where people are complaining that they haven't taken children from them.