Other Person Guardianship

In reply to Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (29 July 2016). (Estimates Committee A)

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Higher Education and Skills): I have been advised of the following:

The information provided to estimates in July 2014 was a point in time count of different components of the OPG process.

To clarify the information presented in 2014 estimates, the 105 children with OPG orders is a count of all the OPG orders that had been granted up to 30 June 2014. The 85 children that were reported to have OPG assessments completed, were those completed since 2010 when the current OPG program commenced, some of whom progressed to formal OPG orders and are included in the total figure of 105. It's important to recognise that even where an assessment recommends OPG as an option, that doesn't guarantee that it will be pursued by the child and carers in question, nor that an OPG order will result if it is formally pursued through the court.

In relation to the length of the process, there are many highly variable factors to consider for each step that impact on timing, which are often beyond the control of the staff member managing the case. Factors such as physically locating and then establishing contact with the birth parents can take significant periods of time, as can the number of existing cases to be processed by the court at any given time. Therefore given all the variables, it is difficult to generalise how long the process takes. It is a case by case response.