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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-09-11 Daily Xml
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CHILD PROTECTION

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Families and Communities. What are some of the recent developments in the child protection system in South Australia?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Northern Suburbs, Minister for Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability) (14:47): This week is National Child Protection Week, so it is timely to remind members of the house of some of the challenges we face in child protection, as well as the initiatives this government has put in place to try to ensure the best outcomes for our children.

I am proud to say that this government has prioritised the safety and welfare of our children since we took government. We have worked continually to improve our child protection and alternative care systems from the ground up. I am proud also that we have increased the number of resources available to support children and their families, including our universal home visiting program where every newborn throughout the state has a visit by a registered nurse, providing support to parents at the earliest possible stage. We have the development of our children's centres that provide positive environments for families to engage with their children.

For those children who, for whatever reason, cannot live with their families and find themselves in an alternative care system, we have more than doubled the funding available to Families SA. This year we have injected $190 million over four years into child protection, including over $28 million for intensive family support and over $15 million for better support for foster and relative carers. The average payment to foster and relative carers will increase by approximately 48 per cent on 1 October this year (up from June last year) and the number of people willing to take young ones into their homes and families has also increased substantially—over 38 per cent since 2004.

Nonetheless, our achievements do not allow us to become complacent and there is always more to be done. It is only through consistent and informed approaches to child protection that we can hope to reduce the impact that abuse and neglect can have on our children. Each year the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) holds National Child Protection Week to keep us all vigilant to the impacts that abuse and neglect can have on our children.

On Monday I was honoured to help open this year's National Child Protection Week at Government House and to launch this year's message: 'Children See, Children Do'. This message is a useful reminder that our children are influenced by what they see around them. A small child may innocently seek to imitate the gestures or habits of a parent—barracking for the same football team or putting on their mum's lippie. A problem can arise if children pick up on some of their parents' negative behaviours, such as resolving issues through violence.

NAPCAN reminds us that all our behaviours around children have a lasting influence. That is why it is so important for families to be provided with the relevant supports to provide safe and nurturing environments for their children, and that is the basis for so much of our work and our reforms in the child protection system. By supporting these children and promoting more positive parenting practices, we hope to see a positive legacy for the current generation of children one day that will carry through into the next generation.

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