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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-08-25 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Child and Young Person's Visitor Scheme

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): My question is to the Minister for Child Protection. Is the minister refusing to fund the Child and Young Person's Visitor program that works to ensure the safety of more than 600 children and young people in residential and emergency care? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: The guardian, Ms Penny Wright, today published a statement in which she said that she is resigning the role of Child and Young Person's Visitor because without funding she is unable to meet the obligations of the role.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:05): The Child and Young Person's—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —Visitor program was originally for two years through my department, as indeed it was a pilot program. In the role as the guardian, Ms Wright has independent statutory powers to determine how she spends the funding that she has, and indeed she has the power to visit residential care facilities in the state. She can continue to advocate for those children and young people.

Our government does remain committed to working proactively constructively with the guardian in her role, and we are committed to improving our—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —outcomes for children and young people in care. I think that the Minister for Child Protection's record over the last 3½ years stands up very well indeed compared with that of anybody opposite who held that role over the period of time.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: She can't even answer a question.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: The Guardian for Children and Young People has a budget in the order of $2 million, which, again, as I say, is administered through my department, and indeed she has significant independence as to how she determines her priorities in spending her budget.

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