Early Intervention Funding

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Human Services. Can the minister update the house on investment to support at-risk families and to build better futures for South Australian children.

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (14:45): I thank the member for the question and her ongoing commitment to a better future for South Australian families and children. Many agencies play a role in supporting children, young people and families, ranging from Child Protection, Police, Education, Health and Wellbeing and more.

The Department of Human Services has delivered the Child and Family Support System for a number of years now and is also host to the Early Intervention Research Directorate. The combination of these provides support to new pilot projects, delivers ongoing services and, critically, works with other parts of the government like the Office for Data Analytics. This helps to evaluate our progress and develop new evidence-based approaches.

This data and analysis work goes hand in hand with the nationally acclaimed work of Professor John Lynch and his BetterStart team from the University of Adelaide. They have studied the lives of South Australian children born from the 1990s onward. A key focus of the DHS early intervention work is to help families build their capacity before more acute services are needed. In the coming year, we have budgeted $59 million to help at-risk families through a range of programs, including those delivered by Aboriginal-controlled community organisations. This helps between 1,500 and 1,600 families per year.

In the past week, I was very proud to announce an additional $35.7 million over four years to boost this critical work. This will take our annual investment to almost $70 million in coming years. It will improve clinical and cultural governance across all of our Safer Family Services work, while delivering additional supports for at least 250 more families, which will include approximately 625 children.

This new and innovative work will combine the best of our research and clinical work to ensure children and families have the wraparound supports that they need. This will help to set them up for success. Importantly, it aims to keep children out of the statutory child protection system. In particular, this work is part of our renewed commitment to Closing the Gap, specifically priority reform target 12 that says, and I quote, 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are not over-represented in the child protection system.' This means an aim is not to have them over-represented.

This announcement is not just about today but about securing the future for our children, importantly also developing a specialised workforce for the future. This is why my department is working with University of South Australia and Flinders University to develop pathways for social workers, securing the best and the brightest to work with families who need help, to help shift the dial on intergenerational issues. I pay tribute to the tireless workers across DHS and the NGO system and indeed in the child protection system. These people are the lifeblood of our systems and are undertaking such complex and important work to change and shape lives.