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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-07-06 Daily Xml
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Child Protection

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:00): Supplementary question: how many children in state care is the minister aware of who have gone missing in circumstances, as the minister has described, to be exploited and abused by men they meet online in exchange for money, drugs, vapes and cigarettes?

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) (15:00): As I said, it is my expectation that particular matters are reported to me. That is my expectation, and I have been very clear about the sorts of matters that I want to have reported to me. What is also very clear is that there is data made available also about instances where children are reported missing, and there is a comprehensive policy that SAPOL and the Department for Child Protection adhere to in terms of those particular reports.

I did want to assure the member about particular really important programs that are instituted in the context of these really, really vulnerable young people who do engage in very risky and vulnerable behaviours. I wanted to assure the member, and I am sure he is interested in this, about some of those programs. I have spoken about what the department does in conjunction with SAPOL, and rightly so.

What I would also let the member know about is a few other things, first of all about a partnership that we have forged with the Australian Centre for Child Protection, the Western Australian government and the South Australian government. That is a program—from memory, a $2 million program—to which we can contribute a particular sum. That program is absolutely designed to better understand that connection between vulnerability and harmful, sexualised behaviours. It is a very important piece of work that is being done because, as I said, that vulnerability, that exposure to particular circumstances for children means—

Mr TEAGUE: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Minister, there is a point of order from the member for Heysen.

Mr TEAGUE: It's in the context of both estimates and a long week of pursuing a simple question.

The SPEAKER: What is your point of order, member for Heysen? It doesn't need a preamble.

Mr TEAGUE: The standing order is 98A. The minister needs to address what was a very straightforward question, and I ask that you direct the minister to the answer.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for West Torrens! I bring the minister to the question.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: I have outlined what my expectations are in terms of understanding particular experiences that children go through and my expectation in relation to any missing person reports in terms of the numbers of those, etc. Again, just for the member's information and to help him to understand, that is something we work very closely with SAPOL on. We rightly have protocols and procedures about that, which I know the Minister for Police would also be aware of.

What I wanted to say, though—and this is the really important part of this answer, but all parts of the answer are incredibly important—is that I really want the member to understand about the proactive work that we are doing. It is incredibly sad that there is a cohort of children and young people in care who are incredibly vulnerable, and often, sadly, children and young people who have suffered abuse and violence are now in care.

The proactive things that we are doing to support them, to nurture them, to care for them, include, as I said, the work that we are doing in conjunction with the Australian Centre for Child Protection and the West Australian government to understand that nexus between harmful sexualised behaviours and the—

Mr TEAGUE: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Minister, there is a point of order from the member for Heysen.

Mr TEAGUE: Standing order 98A, the same point of order: it's a straightforward question and the minister should answer the question.

The SPEAKER: I observe that 98A requires the minister to reply to the substance of the question. The remarks that the member for Heysen has made might suggest that he would wish to have an answer in a different form. In fact, the standing orders also permit the minister to answer in any way that she or he sees fit and—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Some context is permissible. I will bring the minister to the question.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: It is a very complex area and a heartbreaking area in which we are determined to make improvements. The other program that I wanted to make the member aware of—a really important program that is happening—is the work that is being done to embed Australia's best practice model, the MacKillop Power to Kids program, into our residential care setting so that we can improve children and young people's—

The SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.

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