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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-09-22 Daily Xml
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FAMILIES SA

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:16): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Families and Communities a question about Families SA.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: In 2004, tremendous concern was expressed in parliament when a departmental investigation found that some 5 per cent of cases where children were thought to be in immediate danger by child welfare were not followed up within the required 24 hours. In fact, the issue became the subject of a ministerial statement. At the time, the then minister for families and communities called the 5 per cent failure 'alarming'. He stated:

I can assure the house that the resources will be provided to this organisation to achieve the required outcomes under the legislation, which is to investigate those matters within 24 hours. We know that investigations into the most serious of these matters are absolutely vital. It is vital that they occur within the 24-hour period, and it is incumbent upon us to give those involved the resources to do so.

Despite these promises to improve the situation for abused children in immediate danger, the number of delays has tripled since that time. This is a dramatic jump, rather than a decline, from the alarming 5 per cent figure some four years ago.

Given that a tier 1 notification is defined in the Families and Communities annual report as being when 'a child is in immediate danger and Families SA responds immediately', why have we come to this situation? Despite promises to fix this problem urgently in 2004, why has this failure to respond to urgent cases of child abuse where children are in immediate danger not been addressed as promised, and why is it some three times worse than it was four years ago?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:17): I thank the honourable member for his important questions and will refer them to the Minister for Families and Communities in another place and bring back a response.

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