South Australia’s child protection system has been long mired in controversy but reform is now hopeful with the release this week of the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission Report (Report) by the Hon Margaret Nyland AM, Royal Commissioner. In the Report, the Royal Commissioner deemed the current system to be in a state of “disarray”, prompting a response from Premier Jay Weatherill who issued an apology to the children of South Australia, admitting that the SA Government failed to protect them from abuse. The Premier stated in a media release that his Government "accepts full responsibility for the failings of the state’s child protection system in keeping children safe."
Reason for the Royal Commission in SA
The inquiry was launched by the Royal Commissioner in 2014 following the conviction of former Families SA worker, Shannon McCoole, who was arrested for abusing children in a government-run home and heading a global child exploitation website. He has been jailed for 35 years. The SA Royal Commission looked at the laws, policies, practices, and structures currently in place for children at risk of harm, abuse, or neglect including those who are under the guardianship of the State.
This State Royal Commission is different to the Commonwealth Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which will release its final report on the national child protection regime in December 2017.
The Report
The Report hands down 260 recommendations to overhaul SA’s child protection system. The Report reveals that McCoole’s case is emblematic of greater institutional concerns surrounding Families SA and the child protection system generally. It has labelled the system as “outdated” and in a state of “disarray”. After 2 years, 381 witnesses, 5 case studies and 11,000 documents, the Royal Commissioner has concluded that “the problems besetting Families SA and the child protection system proved to be far greater than anyone had initially envisaged”.
The recommendations of the Report are primarily targeted at reforming Families SA. These recommendations include:
- establishing a Commissioner for Children and Young People;
- abolishing single shifts in community care – carers should not be permitted to work alone on single person shifts;
- improved child abuse report line responses and assessment times;
- mandatory probationary period of six months for new employees;
- enactment of a standalone legislation for a screening regime;
- establishment of a new child protection service at the Lyell McEwin Hospital;
- provision of performance reviews for all new staff;
- provision of psychological service to address high stress levels in the workplace;
- ensure a real-time monitoring system;
- amendment of the Children's Protection Act to involve children in decision making;
- assigning every child with a caseworker with monthly face-to-face contact; and
- review staff involved in McCoole case and their suitability to stay in their roles.
The SA Government has immediately responded by suspending the three Families SA staff mentioned in the Report. Child Protection Reform Minister John Rau also stated that the Government intends to draft new legislation to implement the recommendations. This will be introduced in parliament as early as September of this year.
SA’s History of Child Abuse
This is not the first report detailing the failures of SA’s child protection system. Over the past 10 years there has been a series of in-depth inquiries into the Government’s failed child protection system. The past inquiries include:
Despite 6 reports and a total of 600 recommendations, SA is still struggling to reform its child protection system. The Opposition has called on the Premier to resign, stating that it was “he that designed the system, implemented the system, he ran the system, he defended the system – and now he must take ultimate responsibility and resign”.
Why are our child protection systems failing?
The Report states that our child protection systems are systems “outgrown by social change”. Our contemporary systems are ill-equipped to deal with the social and economic complexities of the 21st Century and were never designed to do so.
Moreover, the Report contends that our attempts to reform the child protection system have failed because they are predicated on the view that child abuse “is a solvable problem”. Commentators argue that it is necessary to reconceptualise our understanding of child protection – we need to see it as a ‘wicked problem’, that is, a problem resistant to resolution.
According to the Report, the key child protection misconceptions include:
- The child protection problem is measurable and solvable;
- Consequence: We provide knee-jerk assistance by identifying and securing the safety of children who are at immediate risk of harm. From this, we fail to address the early onset of abuse and neglect.
- Risk can be eradicated;
- Consequence: By employing traditional risk management strategies – our systems have become standardised. This develops prescriptive practices which have, over time, diminished the function of professional judgment in decision making. By creating a culture of prescriptive practice at the expense of professional judgment there is also greater job dissatisfaction and lower retention rates - leaving those who remain with unmanageable workloads.
- Child abuse and neglect are relatively rare in Australia;
- Consequence: Our protection system is primarily focused on incident-based detection and investigation which severely misrepresents the rates of child abuse and neglect in the community.
Where do we go from here?
Many of the issues that beset the SA system are not unique to that State and many jurisdictions are reforming their child protection regimes. The Premier has committed an initial $200 million to begin the implementation of the reforms, and will consider the need for further funding if necessary. Clearly, serious work is needed to help protect children in SA. Given that calls for the Premier's resignation have been made, it is unclear if he will be around to drive the change required.
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