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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-02-14 Daily Xml
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FAMILIES SA

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (17:45): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Education and Child Development a question about Families SA.

Leave granted.

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON: Some members may remember that I asked a range of questions about 18 months to two years ago about a family that was located in Lee Street, Brahma Lodge. There were three children involved. Both parents were drug addicted, and an entire street of residents had put in about 300 complaints about these parents. Three of the complaints were that:

the little girl, who was then six years old, had been kicked in the stomach so hard by the father in the front yard that she was rendered unconscious and then dragged by the hair up the street while being verbally abused;

the nine-year-old child, who was the middle child, had attempted to hang himself and was revived by one of the residents of the street; and

the oldest child had had reports made about him by the principal of the school for aggressive and violent behaviour.

These children were living in a home, with their parents, with a known sex offender named by Families SA. The family was moved a couple of streets along after all this hit Today Tonight, and we were told that the family would be on a safety plan.

In the last week, it has been brought to my attention that these children are still being delivered by their parents, at least three times a week, to this known sex offender and that the family is not on a safety plan. It has been stated by the department to another family member that these children will not be removed. My questions are:

1. Can the minister give an explanation as to the rationale of the workers on this case to allow these children to remain, exposed not only to a known sex offender but also to their violent and aggressive parents?

2. What programs or action was this family required to undertake in order to allow them the privilege of continuing the care of their three children?

3. What part of the legislation or policy and procedures of Families SA can be cited to justify the decisions of Families SA in the case of these three children?

4. Will the new minister give an undertaking to introduce an effective monitoring process of the questionable decisions that are brought to her attention in relation to Families SA and child protection?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (17:48): I thank the honourable member for her most important question and also acknowledge her ongoing interest in these very important matters. I undertake to take the question to the minister in the other place and bring back a response.

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