Children in State Care

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (14:33): My question is to the Minister for Child Protection. How many children in state care are currently missing?

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (14:33): Missing children is a longstanding issue not only in South Australia but throughout Australia. This is something that my department has been working very hard on and that we as a government have been working hard on right from when I was first elected.

We need to remember that for over a decade the Guardian for Children and Young People called on the then Labor government to close the large bed facilities, the residential care facilities, which is where most of the missing persons reports are from and most of the care concerns. They ignored that for a decade—16 years, in fact—and instead they built more. Rather than closing them, they built more.

What we have done is close the Queenstown large bed facility, we have decommissioned the Gilles Plains large bed facility, we have decommissioned the Morphett Vale large bed facility and we have capped the numbers in the other residential care facilities to improve the care for children. We have also implemented the My Place program which allows children to decorate the home's soft furnishings and make them more homelike.

We have invested in purchasing and renting more homelike facilities so that they do feel part of a family. We have put a lot of effort into assisting the non-government organisations to recruit more foster carers because we know that families are the best place for our young people. We also know that the former government neglected intensive family support services. There were so many children coming into care that we had to stem the flow. This government is very proud to say we have been—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Deputy leader!

The Hon. R. SANDERSON: —investing in intensive family support services through the Department of Human Services. We have Anglicare working in the north and KWY in the west. More recently, we announced the social impact bond by the Benevolent Society, which will be starting another intensive family support service.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: The minister will resume her seat. The member for West Torrens rises on a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: My standing order is 98: the minister must answer the substance of the question. The minister is debating the question, not answering the substance. The question was very specific: how many children are missing currently?

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order and I don't uphold the point of order for the time being. I do observe that the minister is now two minutes in, providing context in relation to the question. The minister has the call.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON: Thank you, Mr Speaker, and this information is completely relevant to the missing persons report that I was questioned about because this is what the Liberal government has been doing since coming into power over the last three years. I have 16 years of chaos and mess under Labor to fix. I have had three years. We are making significant inroads, but you cannot fix 16 years of mismanagement of a department; it cannot be fixed in three years.

As I have said, we have reduced the number of large bed facilities because we know that is where most of the missing persons reports come from. We have capped them, we have made them more homelike, we have invested in more homes and rented more homes. We have had a large campaign to attract more foster carers because we know families are the best place for children. We also know that children, wherever possible, should be with their own family.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: On a point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: The minister will resume her seat. The member for West Torrens on a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The question was not about what the government had done to reduce missing children in care. The question was: how many children, who are currently in care, are missing? Standing order 98, sir.

The SPEAKER: I know very well—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right! I understand very clearly what the question was. I draw the minister's attention to the question. The minister has the call.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON: It is important to see what work is being done and we do know that children, wherever possible, would prefer to be with their biological family, so we are investing in the supports for the family and family group conferencing as well as reunification wherever possible. I am very proud of this government's work in this area to reduce the numbers of missing persons reports. However, I do not have the specific number.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Kavel, I warn the member for Badcoe for a second time, I call to order the member for Chaffey, I warn the deputy leader.