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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-07-07 Daily Xml
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Child Protection

Ms CLANCY (Elder) (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Child Protection. How is the government recognising the outstanding achievements of children and young people, carers, volunteers, staff and organisations from across the child protection sector?

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:57): I very much thank the member for her question and for her deep interest in this issue. As minister, as I have stated to this house on a number of occasions, I am deeply committed to keeping children and young people in care in my mind and in my heart as I undertake my responsibilities, responsibilities that I am absolutely honoured to have.

Every South Australian child deserves to be safe, nurtured, cared for and loved and empowered to physically, mentally and emotionally thrive. Ensuring this is so is not something one person or, indeed, one department or organisation can do on its own. It is everyone's responsibility to ensure that children are safe, feel nurtured and are free from abuse or neglect. It is everyone's responsibility to grapple with the complex and often interconnected issues that families confront: poverty, domestic violence, mental ill-health, substance misuse and intergenerational trauma and what these mean for children's lives and now need to support and strengthen families.

There are a number of wonderful people across our community who take on those responsibilities in remarkable ways. That is why it is so incredibly important that we take this opportunity, in the lead-up to National Child Protection Week in September, to recognise the extraordinary and generous efforts of those who work tirelessly in the community to protect, nurture or support children, and children and young people themselves.

I am delighted that nominations are now open for the 2022 SA Child Protection Awards. These awards focus on celebrating the outstanding achievements of carers, volunteers, staff and organisations encasing child protection, strengthening families and community wellbeing. They focus on recognising the extraordinary children and young people who with courage, often in the face of adversity, take remarkable steps forward toward their own achievements and in sharing their voice and experience.

If you know one of these young people or someone who works tirelessly in the community to protect, nurture and/or support children, I encourage everyone in this house to please consider nominating them in recognition of that generous effort and focus on improving outcomes for children so that they can live their best possible lives.

The award categories include Outstanding achievement of a child or young person who has had a care experience; the Voice of children and young people in care award; the Active Efforts Award; the Positive Impact Award; and Outstanding Service Awards in the following categories: Non-government organisations, Across Government, Department for Child Protection, and regional organisations. Award categories also include South Australian Foster Carer of the Year, South Australian Kinship Carer of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year.

The event last year attracted more than 200 nominations from individuals, teams and organisations. I hope this year's awards will attract even more interest. Again, I urge everyone in this place to consider nominating someone in your community in one or more of these categories. Nominations, as I said, are open now and close on 1 August.

I acknowledge that these awards are delivered as a partnership between the Department for Child Protection and the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. I thank all involved for their commitment and efforts in promoting the incredible work of South Australians who play their part in creating the safe and supportive environments that every child and young person needs.

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