Children in Care

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (14:32): My question is to the Minister for Child Protection. Can the minister advise the house how the Marshall Liberal government is delivering on permanency options for children in care?

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned. The minister has the call.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (14:32): I thank the member for Heysen for his question and note his interest in the wellbeing of all children and young people. Open adoption is a new and exciting shift in policy. It is a deliberate shift from current practice and one where staff will be required to consider open adoption as a genuine option when undertaking permanency planning for each child and young person in care. I accept the fact that open adoption is not for every individual, but it should be considered when it is in the child's or young person's best interests.

Prior to March 2018, this state had been subject to the Labor government for 16 years. For the various agencies and multiple ministers over the time responsible for child protection, they presided over a system that was considered toxic and in utter chaos. At various times, our state's most vulnerable children and young people were living in hotels, motels and caravan parks. Millions of dollars—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is warned.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON: Millions of dollars were spent on inquiries to expose the failings and make recommendations for change. These included the Layton report, two Mullighan inquiries, the Debelle inquiry and, most recently, the Nyland royal commission. There were also multiple coronial inquests.

In his recommendation following the inquiries into the tragic death of Chloe Valentine, Mark Johns expressed an opinion that 'adoption should have a place in the alternative placement options in the child protection system'. He went on to express the very firm opinion that 'permanent removal to adoptive parents must have a place in the child protection system and I recommend accordingly'. Despite the number of recommendations from the coronial report of April 2015 being implemented, adoption was not one of them.

During an estimates committee in 2014, I asked the then minister for education and child development, the Hon. Jennifer Rankine, if other person guardianship was designed to lead to possible adoption in the future. The minister's response was no. She went on to say that they were 'not looking at severing the links that children who come under guardianship have with their birth families' and referred to a fiery debate she had engaged in on the topic with the former New South Wales minister for child protection.

Case planning has to be one of the most important aspects in planning for children and young people in care. It is a document which captures both current and future pathways for that child and gives guidance and goals to strive for in the child's life. It should include, for those children and young people who cannot return home, plans for ensuring some stability and permanency in their living arrangements. It is undeniable that stability and permanency are vital for a young person's wellbeing and development and for their health and education outcomes and that they set the grounding for the best opportunity to achieve their dreams in adulthood.

In June 2017, under Labor, only 28.9 per cent of children in care had a case plan. Curiously, that data was not previously given to the productivity committee or to the RoGS. In just 18 months, and under my urging, that figure, to 30 June this year, has grown to 88.9 per cent of children and young people in care having a completed case plan. I ask this place how it can be said that those opposite were doing anything to focus on permanency options for children if they didn't even have a plan.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: asking the house to consider how we could assume something is debate.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order and I am listening carefully to the minister's answer.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON: Last year, the full first year under the Marshall Liberal government, 46 long-term guardianship orders were made, the highest it has ever been. Adoption will soon be a real option for children in care, along with multiple options designed to meet the varying needs of children and families.