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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-21 Daily Xml
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CHILD'S DEATH

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (15:11): My question is to the Minister for Families and Communities. Given that it is now 13 days since a little boy died in a government house at Modbury Heights, will the minister now tell the house how many times her department received a notification or advice on this family?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability) (15:11): Whenever a serious incident occurs involving the death or serious injury of a child, the processes and procedures, the information available and the actions taken by the Department for Families and Communities and other agencies that might be involved in their lives (such as the Department of Education and Children's Services or SA Health) are scrutinised in detail, both within the department and by the Child Death and Serious Injury Review Committee.

The death of this little boy has seen someone charged and they are before the courts now. I have asked for legal advice on what I can and cannot say while the trial is underway and I am told that, as the matter is before the courts, I cannot make any comment on the case. The worst outcome—

Mr Williams: The question wasn't about the case.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Well, it is about the case.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: The worst outcome would be for me to make comments publicly which will jeopardise this case, but what I can—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: What I can tell the house is what we have done in relation to child protection. First and foremost, we have increased the budget for Families SA from a piddling $90 million a year to now almost $300 million a year. We came into government and reviewed the child protection system. We have had the Layton review, we have had the Mullighan inquiry into children in state care and on the APY lands—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —we established the position of Guardian for Children and Young People, we established the Child Death and Serious Injury Review Committee to examine child deaths and serious cases of harm, we established the Council for the Care of Children, and we established the Health and Community Services Complaints Commission. We are constantly assessing and reviewing what we do and, quite frankly, we cannot have—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Minister for Transport!

Mr PENGILLY: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. Member for Finniss.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr PENGILLY: That is my point of order. I cannot hear the minister for the rantings of the Minister for Transport.

The SPEAKER: Order! Sit down. It is very difficult to hear. Minister.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Would you please be quiet and listen to the minister?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: We have trebled the funding for child protection, we have put in a range of processes and procedures—

Ms CHAPMAN: I have a point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, member for Bragg.

Ms CHAPMAN: About five minutes ago the minister told us she could not answer the question on legal advice, and now we have all this drivel. Sit her down.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, would you finish your answer.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: We are the ones that set up the Child Death and Serious Injury Review Committee to independently assess circumstances in which a child may be injured, so that—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —we can improve, where we can, the protection of children here in South Australia. The Department for Families and Communities is open to scrutiny—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —and is constantly being scrutinised, but I am not going to put this trial at risk, in jeopardy, just to satisfy—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —the member for Bragg.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Child protection is a very serious issue and we should treat it that way and stop this political point-scoring.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Deputy leader.

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