Statutes Amendment (Rights of Foster Parents and Guardians) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 26 February 2015.)

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (10:42): I rise today to support the bill that the member for Hammond has brought to this place. I congratulate him on his tireless efforts in this area. It is a very worthwhile and important exercise that he has undertaken, and he has undertaken it in a manner that is befitting of this place. He is seeking to negotiate a good outcome for foster carer families all across the state.

Grief is a difficult process. In his bill, the member for Hammond seeks a way for us in this place to show compassion, and that is something that we are not often able to do. We deal in the abstract, we deal in the macro, we deal in the absolute. We often pass laws that might benefit some people but disadvantage others, but we do so in the knowledge that what we are doing is fair, just and right. I think with this piece of legislation we have found a way to have a common-sense suggestion that can help the law show compassion in what is a very difficult area.

I can only imagine the grief that Monica Perrett and her family went through, and the grief that all foster parents go through in situations such as the one Monica found herself in. Someone who is willing to put themselves forward as a carer to look after children who are not their own, to give of themselves to try to make another child's life better in what is often extremely difficult circumstances, or where the child has experienced extremely difficult circumstances, is extremely admirable. For me, that only heightens the importance of a law like this. When the law obstructs somebody who gives of themselves in this way from being able to honour the death of their foster son is not good enough, and it is something that we here can fix.

Being a foster carer is extremely difficult. We need to do more to support them. They are valuable, and this is an opportunity for us to show that they are valuable, and I do not think that we can let this opportunity go. Again, on that score, it is fantastic that the member for Hammond has brought this back after the proroguing of the parliament.

We have had debates over the past years, especially when we look back at crises in Families SA and when we look at the rate of children being taken away from their parents. I have heard the Premier speak on radio on a number of occasions, and we even had questions in this house this week, about whether it is right to take a child away from their family. I think we all agree and we are bipartisan in understanding that the best thing for a child is to be at home with their family, except where it is not the best choice, and finding that line between having children stay with their birth parents or having to be placed in foster care or some other sort of institutional care is a very difficult thing.

I hark back to an article Tom Richardson wrote last year in InDaily on this subject. It was one of his Friday commentary pieces. Often, Tom deals with the hurly-burly of politics and likes to give both sides a good whack, but in this case I think he summed up the mood of the parliament, and I think he summed up the mood of all South Australians in his article where he talked about the agonising choices governments need to make and the fact that we are all united in wanting to find a better solution, or find what is often the least worst solution, in this way.

Foster carers, can I say, do a great job and, if done properly, it is a form of care that is preferred to institutional care. Where the parents are not able to look after the child, they can still find themselves in a loving and caring environment as opposed to being looked after by carers on eight-hour three shifts a day rotations. We need to do more to help them, and again this bill is exactly the type of thing we should be doing.

What I would like to do also is congratulate some of the foster care organisations in my electorate that do great work. First and foremost, I would like to congratulate Lutheran Community Care. Helen Lockwood and the team from Lutheran Community Care, which has a very strong presence in the Barossa Valley, are fantastic. I was lucky enough to go to their volunteers' thank you lunch last year and learn more about the great work they do.

Lutheran Community Care has approximately 35 carers in the Barossa, ranging from Gawler to Nuriootpa, and they have 60 to 70 kids in care in the Barossa Valley, of whom two are Indigenous. However, there are no Indigenous carers. Lutheran Community Care organises that carers have regular support groups so that they can look to each other to deal with the challenges together, and Lutheran Community Care has two support workers who support these carers in what they do.

In my maiden speech, I talked about community spirit and community-based service delivery as being a great model for service delivery of these types of services across the state. Lutheran Community Care was definitely one of the organisations I had in my mind when I made those statements, and I stand by them. I place on record my thanks for the great work they do. There are a number of other foster care agencies that cover the Barossa, from the Aboriginal Family Support Services to Anglicare SA and UnitingCare Wesley, and I would like to thank them, too, for the work they do in my electorate. I understand that it is difficult, and that it is hard and often heartbreaking, but it is beautiful to see that there are people in a community willing to give of themselves in this way.

We in here sometimes have to deal with the worst of humanity when we deal with criminal legislation and trying to deal with biker gangs, the scourge of drug use in our society, the scourge of domestic violence in our society, but it is nice to be able to acknowledge those on the other side of the coin, who are actually doing great and beautiful work in our community to make sure that it is safe and a better place to live, and to help children to have a better chance in life so that they can go on and be fulfilled and complete members of our society. This is a case where we on this side of the house can help those families who will be affected by this and where we can help do the government's work for them.

In this place, we are lucky enough to have a sage, wise man in the member for Newland. He is an extremely intelligent man and extremely capable, and he said to me that private members' time is a time when we can help the government to do their work. Private members' time is for smaller pieces of legislation that may not have the same priority as when we are dealing with government time and government bills, but it is a time when we can deal with these pieces of legislation. Certainly, I think Finn's Law is exactly the type of legislation the member was talking about.

I understand that this bill is still in negotiation with the government and that we have had a change of minister, from the member for Wright to the member for Port Adelaide. I understand that the member for Hammond is working very closely with the minister and her department to look at this. On that score, can I plead with the minister and say that this is an important and worthwhile cause and that I urge her in the strongest terms to take this up and work with us so that we as a parliament can be thought of better by our communities and that we as a parliament can be seen to be showing compassion to those who do so much to help us out in the wider sphere.

There are times as a parliament when we behave less than admirably, but this is an opportunity for us to also be a parliament that does good work, and I think this piece of legislation is very worthy of support for those reasons. I urge the minister to come on board and see the common-sense values of this. I look forward to a positive resolution and, hopefully, a unanimous vote on the floor of this house for this legislation.

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (10:51): I commend the member for Hammond for bringing this bill to parliament. As the shadow minister for families and child protection, I have a particular interest in the welfare not only of children under the guardianship of the minister but of all children.

I would like, firstly, to put on the record what a wonderful job our foster carers do—and it is such a difficult job. One of my friends is a foster carer and now has her 15^th child. It is actually the first child without a physical or mental disability she has had in her care, so foster carers are not only caring for children but they are caring for children with complex needs that are often difficult. They feel that they are not being supported well by the current government, and there is a lot more that needs to be done to support foster carers.

We know that a family setting, such as foster care or kinship care, is the best type of care if the child cannot be with their own family for some reason, so we do need to do all we can to encourage foster carers and to really support them and look after them to do the very important job they do. Unfortunately from the Productivity Commission reports out recently, South Australia is 7 per cent lower than the national average and the worst of all states at having children in a family setting, and it has a higher use of residential care.

Recent studies released from the University of Adelaide show that children in residential care, as opposed to foster care or kinship care, are 12 times more likely to be offenders and caught for offending in the future, so we know that foster carers and kinship carers are incredibly important. More must be done to support them and to encourage more into the system. Perhaps we could look at having training and ongoing training that is available to them and having qualifications that are a part of their training so that when the children in their care grow up they have qualifications to work as youth workers or in Families SA or with places like Anglicare or UnitingCare.

According to last year's budget papers, there were 2,678 children living in out-of-home care for the year ending 2012-13, with an expected figure of 2,954 as of the 2014-15 financial year, which is coming up very soon. The number is ever increasing and things need to be addressed to reduce this number and ensure that more children and families are supported so that fewer children are entering this system because it is a broken system with no winners.

Of the 2,678 children in out-of-home care in the 2012-13 year, 44.9 per cent (1,194) were living with relatives or kin, which is great. Hopefully, that number will continue to increase because we know that that is the preferred option for children who cannot, for many different reasons, live with their own family. There were 1,124 (41.9 per cent) who were living in foster care, and 360 (13.44 per cent) who were in residential care. As the Guardian for Children and Young People wrote several years ago in a report, we need to be moving away from residential care, closing down the large facilities and moving more people into a family setting, which means we must support our foster carers.

We know that we had 2,245 children who were on 18-year guardianship of the minister orders, so these are not short-term things, and we do need to look at our adoption laws. For children who know that, for their entire childhood, they are going to be under the guardianship of the minister, we need to consider whether adoption should be an alternative to give them safety and stability in a permanent, loving family. I would just like to end my comments by saying how important foster carers are, and I commend the member for Hammond for bringing this important bill to the house.

Mr WINGARD (Mitchell) (10:56): I will be brief, but I would like to rise and speak in support of this bill put forward by the member for Hammond and commend all the other members who have spoken on this. Foster caring is vital to our community, and I really commend the member for Hammond for bringing forward a common-sense bill to try to help out people like Monica Perrett in this situation and support them for the efforts they have put in to be foster parents, as we know how important this is.

Foster parenting is a big commitment. It is disappointing to see the treatment Monica Perrett has received from the former minister. I hope the new minister is more understanding and can work with the member for Hammond to pass this bill. I know there are others on the other side of the chamber who have known the frustration of dealing with the department and working in this area. For foster parents, and those working with foster children, it can be very frustrating.

It is a sensitive area, I understand that, but I think it is really important that the people who make the effort and make the commitment to become a foster parent are supported by the department and by the associated minister. In a process like the one Ms Monica Perrett has gone through, I think it is important that the department and minister help foster parents in this tragic time and help them with their grieving process, especially considering, as I said, the commitment that foster parents make to our community and to young people, especially in South Australia.

Foster parents need to be commended for the efforts they put in. When you think about the commitment someone has to make, I certainly commend anyone who takes on this role in our community. Vulnerable children need all the care, love and support that we can muster as a community.

When you look at the skills you must have to be a foster parent, common sense is one, patience and understanding are other things, along with maturity, flexibility, great interpersonal skills and a willingness to learn. An ability to work with the child and their family, if they still have engagement with their family, is very important and is really tough to do. I think this is just a great time to reflect on how tough being a foster carer is in our community. The work you have to do, the compassion you have to show, really is absolutely outstanding.

I know a number of people who have taken on this role and I again commend them for doing so. They really put in a lot of their time and effort. If you were to try to actually scale it, value it and put a monetary figure on it, it is nigh on impossible to do. The time and effort you have to put in, the 24-hour care, the mental power that you put into worrying about children, whether they are your own or, in this case, a foster child, really is invaluable. The work that foster carers do is something the child can never pay back and something the government can never pay back but it is vital to our community.

I was lucky when I was growing up. My mother took in a foster child. She was asked to do so, and she was not in a brilliant place herself being a single parent raising two boys. She did a marvellous job with this young girl Tammy. It was a delight to have her in our family and in our lives. When I look back now, I would like to believe that my brother and I played some role—my mother played a much larger role—as siblings to her for a short period of time, to help her mother get through a tough situation. The local social worker in Kingscote came to my mum and asked her to help out, and she did a really great job.

You hope that the work you did, the time you put in and the effort you made has an impact on that person down the track. I know Tammy is doing well. I touched base with her not so long ago and she is doing really well in life now, which is great. That is not to say that anything we did or anything my mother did caused that to happen—she may well have had great success all the same, but you hope that you have some input.

Having had that personal experience and to see what Monica Perrett has been through, it is really important, as the member for Schubert said, that as a community we show compassion and common sense, and that we do look at this bill and ask: is there a way that we can support these people who put so much back into our community?

In closing, I would again like to commend the bill to the house, and I also hope that members on the other side see the merits and values in this, because of the great work that foster carers do in our community. I also encourage anyone that has the inclination, the passion, the time and the commitment to consider being a foster parent, because there are many children out there in need.

As I said, it is not something that necessarily happens for the entire life of the child. Mind you, it still can be, but you can do it for a short term, and take the time to help out a parent who is struggling a little bit and maybe needs to get themselves back on track before they can take full-time care of their own child. There are many ways to help out with foster care, and I think it is really important, with this bill and with foster care in general, that we get behind and support foster parents in South Australia.

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11:01): I rise to support the Statutes Amendment (Rights of Foster Parents and Guardians) Bill. The bill was introduced by the member for Hammond (and I commend him for doing so) to take up what is clearly inequity in the circumstances of a foster mother who, at a time when she was collecting an award for her services to the care of children, had her three-month-old charge die, and then was not welcomed into the funeral arrangements.

Sadly, the time of death sometimes brings forward circumstances where we find deficiencies in the law. This is common, for example, with de facto partners, including same-sex couples. Families decide, for whatever reason, as the legal blood next of kin, that they want to exclude the partners—they do not like them; they never liked that son or daughter-in-law, or whatever the reasons are. It can be very difficult in some relationships that we do not legally recognise at such a sad time as a death.

I commend the member for Hammond for bringing this to our attention. This family in particular, and others who have invested their love, care, and indeed finances on many occasions, to children in these circumstances need to have some recognition. I understand the discretion of how this is managed will remain with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and we understand how that can occur, to the extent that it allows some flexibility.

In relation to foster carers generally, my concern is that, as the shadow minister has pointed out, there is increasing demand for the care of children outside of their own family arrangements. Sometimes it is due to marital breakdowns, sometimes it is poverty, or the absence of a parent due to death, imprisonment, or moving interstate. There are lots of reasons why children are sometimes left in a circumstance where they are without care or adequate supervision. The state needs to take responsibility; they have a legal obligation to do so.

Foster care has always been an area of care which this side of the house has supported. In fact, I personally think the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion has a very important regulatory role, and I think this government's determination to take on the management and provision of service in the foster care arena actually puts it in a conflict of interest. I think that is one of the problems. We have had inquiry after inquiry in this area. That has exacerbated the problem. Under the watch of the now Premier as the minister, he supervised a period where he insisted that all residential care go out of the NGO and private sector and come into the government's hands, because it needed to clearly have a role of integrity, a level of accountability.

We see what has happened with that: it is clearly inadequate and there have been problems. We have had institutional departmental supervised providers or employees who have been tied up in the most disgraceful neglect situations and abuse situations under the Families SA banner with child protection. What has been the problem?

Also under his watch, he oversaw the rate at which foster carers are paid. Let's face it: none of these people do it for the money because it is not very much to supplement the household, but instead of having some reasonable remuneration, he introduced a new regime where you have a base amount and then a voucher refund arrangement.

I am not sure how that is currently operating but I know that at the time it was not well received by the foster care community because, if you have a child who has high needs—say, a teenager who has high needs as a result of behavioural issues and the like—then they do need reasonable remuneration. To have to go down to the department and produce your voucher to get a refund for your chemist bill is just an outrage. I think that was an insult and I am disappointed that that was introduced by this government.

The second area of blatant neglect is the refusal by the government to give decent support to foster parents who take the care of children who are born to heroin addict mothers and usually foster parents in this category are women. In South Australia, we have on average a baby a week born to a heroin addict mother and they, understandably, are often born with an addiction. They need to go onto pethidine injections. They are put into foster care. The mothers are sometimes still in hospital or are unable to properly care for this child, so this newborn baby is put into foster care.

We have had cases where the baby arrives with the pack of injections, because clearly they are addicted and they need to have these injections (I think they are morphine, but anyway, they are a derivative for the purposes of the treatment) and that might be a six or eight week program. The carers require instruction and training to deal with these babies of high need, but the lack of actual support, advice or explanation to foster carers in these circumstances has been appalling. I certainly hope it is improving.

I have not had any recent cases come to me, but I am very concerned that they are left out on their own and they are left with children who are often highly broken as a result of the circumstances from which they have come. They may have been living long term in a homeless situation, often impoverished, without reasonable care or discipline or supervision, and their attendance at school, their access to even a reasonable diet—these are all things that surround those children that leave them very scarred.

If they have been sexually abused on top of it, then imagine having to try to place a 13 or 14-year-old child in foster care with a family who may have other siblings in the household and are trying to manage a child with all the difficulties that he or she might face. Full marks to foster carers. Thank you for what they do. I hope they will continue to offer the service to these children, that they will have the government work with them rather than withdrawing areas of support and that we can continue to offer this as the best alternative for children who do not have access to their natural parents for that purpose.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. T.R. Kenyon.