2010-10-19
Child Protection Services – Crisis Responsibility
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Concerns about problems for the Territory’s Child Protection Services first surfaced in 2003 when Darwin Child Protection team member, Charlie King, went public with details of high levels of sexual abuse amongst children in the Territory. Your then child protection minister stated that there was no crisis and the system was merely under pressure. A government source quoted in the NT News put it another way, saying: ‘There is no crisis in the Territory’s child protection system, but we don’t want one to develop’.
Why did the Labor government allow the crisis in child protection to develop; and who is going to be held responsible for a decade of neglect by six child protection ministers and two Chief Ministers, including yourself?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The protection of children is the most fundamental thing we do as a society.
I will pick up the Leader of the Opposition on a factual error in his question. It was the Labor government, in 2001, that acknowledged there needed to be a significant investment in families and children, and child protection in the Northern Territory. It was one of the first things we identified when we came to government in 2001. Madam Speaker, I remember you, as the then minister, presenting the submission to Cabinet at a time when we had just come to office. There was a deficit of over $100m which was not projected in the budget papers and the government, of which I was a minister, saw all government agencies having budgets reduced by 5%, some up to 8%. A temporary budget improvement levy was put on the registration of motor vehicles throughout the Northern Territory and, at that time, we allocated significant additional resources to child protection. We identified this from day one.
The Caring for Our Children reform package 2003 to 2008 put an extra $53m into child protection. The Closing the Gap response to the Little Children are Sacred report was a whole-of-government response to the tune of $286m; $62m of this package was dedicated to Family and Children’s Services. Yesterday, I announced another $130m over five years.
For the Leader of the Opposition to say we ignored it, we did not recognise there was a problem, is far from the truth, in direct contradiction to the facts and the commitments we have made.
I congratulate Dr Howard Bath, Professor Muriel Bamblett and Dr Rob Roseby for their report, Growing them strong, together. When this was presented to Caucus and Cabinet, the title of this report is very deliberate. It has been very carefully crafted and structured, because Growing them strong, together is really saying that this a whole-of-community, a whole-of-society responsibility and, first and foremost, for parents to accept their responsibilities for the care of their children.
I am sure we will have many questions on this today, but this government has acted. The report called for us to act, and this government has acted. It has acted swiftly and we are determined to implement the recommendations in this report.
Child Safety and Wellbeing - Initiatives
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for HEALTH
Can you advise the House on recent initiatives to improve child safety and wellbeing in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Yesterday, the Northern Territory government announced a significant policy shift in the way we manage child protection, child safety, and family support services. The Board of Inquiry was adamant that the government has to engage the non-government sector and Indigenous communities, and we have done exactly that. All children in the Territory deserve to feel safe, and have to be safe – there are no ifs or buts.
The opposition claims the government did nothing for nine years. The Leader of the Opposition said 10 years of failure. They believe that, from 1978 to 2001, the Territory was a Utopia; everything was perfect under the CLP. The reality is exactly the opposite. Only $7.8m was allocated for child protection, with just over 100 child protection workers. Nothing outside Darwin was taken into account. Nothing was wrong outside Darwin. Everything was focused in urban areas. Now the Leader of the Opposition asks why things happened in nine years? The simple reason is we put in the money. From 2003 to 2008, we put in money and we put in 119 extra staff. We increased foster carer payments by 4% in 2004 and by 8% in 2007. ‘Build it and we will come’, they say. We built the structure of the department and the notifications came. They came from Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine, and from the communities – they never came before. We took notice of these notifications, we investigated and we took kids into care - something the CLP never did.
Our Closing the Gap package of 2003 which responded to the Little Children are Sacred report has led to the following positive outcomes for children in communities: the location of 25 remote Aboriginal family community workers across 17 communities - never done by the CLP; the expansion of sexual assault referral clinics to remote areas - never done by the CLP; and the establishment of 20 safe places in 15 remote communities, and they are operational – done by our government. We introduced the Ochre Card. I have No 2; the Chief Minister has No 1. Anyone who works with children has to have a check of their employment and criminal record to have an Ochre Card. We established the Children’s Commissioner - never done by the CLP. A number of initiatives have happened under this government in the past nine years that the CLP either did not want to do or they could not do.
Madam Speaker, we know the system is under enormous pressure, identified by us, identified by the Board of Inquiry. That is why we decided to reconstruct the system, totally brand new, thinking outside the square, not a British system of the 1940s and 1950s - a brand new system for the Territory in 2010.
Child Protection Services – Government Position
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
It was a year ago that the then minister for Child Protection, the member for Arnhem, told this House that she was satisfied with your government’s performance on child protection. This was at the same time that your government repeatedly dismissed the need for an independent inquiry into child protection. The Board of Inquiry report handed down yesterday details a child protection system in complete chaos.
Why was your government satisfied with a child protection system that was, in the words of the Board of Inquiry, in distress, with staff stretched beyond capacity, with children living at considerable risk of harm? How was it that you and your minister were ignorant about the tsunami of need engulfing child protection in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question. It was this government, and me as Chief Minister, that called for the Board of Inquiry. At the time, there was enormous debate, and I paid tribute earlier in the day in this House to the previous minister for families and children, the shadow spokesperson for families and children, the member for Nelson, and a significant number of non-government organisations and professional bodies which collaboratively worked together to determine the terms of reference for an inquiry, and the best possible people to sit on the Inquiry into Child Protection in the Northern Territory.
We recognised that there were significant problems. The terms of reference for the inquiry very clearly articulate that the government had significant concerns about the structure of the organisation; significant concerns in regard to workforce and recruitment and retention issues; and significant concerns about the caseloads people were managing. That is why we called the inquiry. If we had believed there was no problem with the system, we would not have called the inquiry. At the time, we did have concerns.
The proof of the pudding is moving forward. It is about what are we going to do. We are going to act, and we have acted immediately. To all the staff who work in the front line, who have had enormous pressure on them - some of the political commentary around this, their caseloads, the issues they confront every day - I say to them: you have our support. You have the support of the government and, I am sure, of this parliament, for the enormous challenges you face on a daily basis.
Madam Speaker, we will act. We have allocated an additional $130m to implement these reforms. We have taken direct action in working with other governments to bring 10 experienced child protection workers to the Northern Territory, and direct action for an additional 42 frontline staff.
Child Protection Services - Police Initiatives in Remote Communities
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
In light of the Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System in the Northern Territory, can you detail police initiatives which are helping to protect the welfare of children in remote communities?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. The protection and care of our children in the Northern Territory is not an issue for just one department. It is not just an issue for NT Families and Children. It goes across all government agencies, the whole of society, the whole of community. The report handed to government yesterday once again highlights the devastation of grog, ganja and gambling, and the debilitating effects those habits and addictions have on the community and parents’ ability to cater and care for their children. Once again, another report showing very clearly that grog, ganja and gambling very much contribute to the neglect so many children in the Northern Territory have to suffer.
In regard to police, in 2004, this government recognised these issues around ganja on remote communities. Time after time, visiting remote communities with Community Cabinet on ministerial visits, people would talk about dope and the devastation of young people in consuming marijuana on remote communities. We established the Remote Community Drug Desk in 2004. It is staffed by eight detectives and one intelligence analyst and has had significant success since its inception. Between 30 June and July this year, the unit successes included 44 arrests, 43 summonses, seizing 10 300 gm of cannabis, 214 kg of kava, 27 gm of MDMA, and three vehicles involved in the drug trade. It was this government which created the Remote Community Drug Desk with additional police resources. It was this government which introduced drug dogs into our police force that do such a great job.
There is much more to do. Law enforcement is a significant part of that, and our police do a magnificent job in communities.
Last week, during Mental Health Week, the Health minister and I met a team of mental health workers at the Tamarind Centre. The real challenge with so much of the trauma to do with mental health in the Northern Territory, virtually all of it, as those case workers were saying to us, is a result of substance abuse. Public education and information campaigns and giving our children protective behaviours are things we have to do. This government is committed to cracking down on the ganja trade in our remote communities.
Family and Parent Support Services - Funding
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
One of the Board of Inquiry’s principal recommendations is that the Territory government invest more money in family support services. That recommendation is based on the idea that it is better to put a fence at the top of a cliff than an ambulance at the bottom. Incredibly, despite having initiated an inquiry into the crisis in child protection in the Territory, you chose to slash funding for family and support services by more than 15% before the inquiry reported. Why did you decide to slash funding in family and parent support services when you have thousands of children at risk of abuse and neglect?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, if only the Leader of the Opposition could get his facts right. Here is a chart showing the increased funding to Child Protection Services and family support.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: This is not a joke. I would have thought this report would be taken seriously by members opposite. It is no laughing matter, it is not a joke, and it is not a political stunt, although the opposition tried to turn it into one yesterday when they outrageously issued those robo calls to people in the northern suburbs, Palmerston, and as far as Litchfield, to turn what is a very serious public policy issue into a political stunt and opportunity for the opposition.
They stand condemned for trying to politicise this issue. It was interesting, even with their stunt, very few people attended. The sector did not attend, because they want us to take this issue seriously, not trivialise and politicise it. The Leader of the Opposition stands there with his bleeding heart - hand on his heart - saying he is taking this seriously, and they organise a stunt like that.
If you look at the reforms that have been delivered with this additional funding over our term of government, we have established targeted family support services in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine; established safe places in 15 remote communities; established a therapeutic services team; established community education programs like Safe Kids, Strong Futures; and remote Aboriginal community worker positions have been created across 13 communities.
Yes, we need to do more, given the neglect issues across the Northern Territory. We will do more in partnership with peak Aboriginal services. We will do more by establishing child and family wellbeing teams in our 20 remote communities. We will do more by establishing a dual intake system so Indigenous organisations on the ground can work with children at risk, rather than children who have been harmed, and it is a continuation of the investments government has made in this area.
For the Leader of the Opposition to attempt to score cheap political points by a robo call to people in the northern suburbs, Palmerston and Litchfield - someone from the Litchfield area asked what it had to do with them. It is an outrageous attempt to politicise and trivialise what is a very sensitive, difficult policy issue faced by this government and the whole community.
Child Protection Services – Recruitment of Staff
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for HEALTH
In response to the child protection report, the government says it will recruit an additional 42 professional child protection workers, on top of the 76 announced earlier this year. In the report, your department noted that:
- Central Intake has great difficulty in attracting and retaining staff and currently has a number of vacancies. Additional positions have been approved but remain unfilled. Central Intake has only been at full strength for one week since 1 January 2009.
What is the government’s strategy to compete with other jurisdictions in the recruitment of the additional 42 workers? Will the government make representation to universities to work with them to train suitably qualified people required for this field of work?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his very important question. The reality is that there are not too many child protection workers around Australia; we have to rely upon imported workers from New Zealand. Out of the 76 we announced during the budget, 59 came from Ireland and England, and we will be looking to Canada for child protection workers. We will offer competitive salary packages.
The important thing is not getting people from outside the Territory, but to train Territorians so we can do as we did with the nurses and what we will do with the doctors. The department is negotiating with Queensland to adopt one of their programs. We will get people on a 12 month apprenticeship in the department and up-skill them - people like doctors, teachers, nurses and Indigenous health workers. The important thing is to grow our own to stay here rather than importing them from other states or other countries.
We have to remember that bringing people to the Territory is not an easy task. They might be fully qualified with a university degree, but how much do they know about the Territory? How much do they know about the communities, the dynamics, the language and the culture? They have to spend time and effort here in the Territory. I am speaking from personal experience. I came from Western Australia to work in environmental health. It was a totally different world and a totally different reality. It took me more than a year to realise the dynamics of the Territory.
Our government will provide competitive salary packages and ensure we grow our own in the Territory.
Child Health – Better Care
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for HEALTH
How is this government providing better care in the early stages of a child’s life to help them grow healthy and strong?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. Keeping children safe and healthy is important for every family and every community. The Board of Inquiry states that child protection is everyone’s responsibility - whole-of-government, whole-of-community.
Our health system knows, and evidence tells us, by starting very early and having very healthy babies, you have healthy children and healthy individuals. The midwives and Aboriginal health workers are working in close partnership with the department to provide this support to pregnant women across the Northern Territory to deliver healthy babies safely and with culturally appropriate support.
We have established the Midwifery Group Practice in Darwin and Alice Springs to continue care for remote women coming into town. We have the Pandanus program, operated by Anglicare in Darwin and Palmerston, which provides excellent support for the development of parenting skills for young parents to learn more about growing their babies in a safe environment. A few weeks ago, I was very pleased to launch the Paperback Project to deliver programs in Yirrkala, Milingimbi, Maningrida, Ngukurr, Yuendumu and Gunbalanya.
We are very supportive of this work, supporting the young mothers, the young fathers, ensuring the babies are delivered safely. When the baby is delivered, we have the Healthy Under 5 Kids Program, a primary health program which does the scheduled immunisation, plus 10 key assessments for every child to monitor growth, oral health, ear health, anaemia. Staff also assess the family and the risks which may impact on the child – domestic violence, smoking and social isolation, all these problems that have a negative impact on the child.
If we have a healthy mother and a healthy baby, we will have a healthy child and a healthy individual.
Family Support Services – Slashing of Funding
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER referred to MINISTER for HEALTH
Can you explain what effect the slashing of more than $2m from family support services has upon thousands of children at risk of abuse and neglect in the Territory? Will you accept responsibility for what must be the most short-sighted decision of your woeful government?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, may I ask what particular program is the Leader of the Opposition alleging we have cut funding to?
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, would you mind repeating the question?
Mr MILLS: Family support services.
Mr HENDERSON: Well, that is patently wrong. We have significantly invested in family support services. I understand it was a Commonwealth-funded program which ceased, and we picked up the funding. I believe my colleague, the Health Minister, has some more details.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, the Chief Minister is right. Quite often, different departments receive Commonwealth grants. In this case, the Commonwealth grant was received for 2009-10 and, at the time of the budget, we were negotiating with the Commonwealth. The grant had not yet been received because the negotiations had not been finalised. When the money is received, it will be incorporated in the budget.
There was no reduction in the budget; it was simply the untimely provision of funds by the Commonwealth.
Proposed Alcohol Reform
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for ALCOHOL POLICY
The Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System in the Northern Territoryhas highlighted the high levels of alcohol abuse and the impact it has on families and children across the Territory. Can you please advise the House on our proposed alcohol reforms to turn off the tap for problem drinkers?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. As we have heard in Growing them strong, together, and similarly in Little Children are Sacred, at the heart of the causes of neglect in our communities are grog, significantly, and we have heard about ganja and gambling.
Successive attempts have been made to tackle grog. We have seen a range of alcohol management plans put in place - different plans for different locations. Through the Commonwealth’s intervention, we have seen the prohibition of the sale of alcohol in vast areas of the Northern Territory. No one has been standing still in this space.
We have seen all governments, whether they are CLP or Labor, attempt various ways of tackling the scourge of grog and the harms across our community associated with grog. Alcohol misuse is at the heart of much of the assault-related crime in our community. We know it is at absolutely unacceptable levels. We know 60% of all assaults in the Territory are alcohol-related; 67% of domestic violence assaults are alcohol-related.
In September, this government announced bold new measures to tackle grog, to turn the problem drinkers off tap, rather than do the whole-of-community supply measures that have been tried in the past. We recognise the importance of the alcohol management plans, but we are taking a different approach in our latest reforms. We are going straight to the problem drinker, turning them off tap through an administrative bans process supported by the police protective custody system; also setting up an alcohol and drugs tribunal to deal with referrals from anyone, whether it is a member of the family, a doctor, or an alcohol and other drug practitioner; and also improving the scope of the existing alcohol and drugs courts, packing them together into a substance misuse and referral treatment court.
This is a tough love approach. We know it has not been tried anywhere else in our nation, let alone the world. We are building on the work and the experience we have seen through alcohol measures using permit systems in Groote Eylandt, which have been successful; Nhulunbuy, which is showing early successes; and Alice Springs and Katherine with the ID systems in place.
It is a direct health intervention process that we are taking. We are not criminalising alcoholics. Of course, people who commit crime will be dealt with through the criminal system, through the court system. There is a problem with people who are chronic alcoholics who are clearly neglecting the care of their children. It is a health intervention that we are embarking on through that alcohol and other drugs tribunal, through the police protective custody system.
We will turn the problem drinkers off tap. These measures go to supporting Growing them strong, together. We know it is a multifaceted approach we need to take. We are signed up to implementing the Growing them strong, together recommendations and the grog reforms.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Child Protection Services - Computer Systems
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for HEALTH
Is it true that the child protection computer systems at the intake centres in Darwin and Alice Springs are different? Will a cross-agency child protection reform steering committee be asked to look at a system that is user friendly, uniform and is accessible, not only throughout the agency in the Territory, but also by other relevant agencies such as police?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his important question. I find it unbelievable there would be IT equipment between different departments that will not talk to each other. I have made clear to my department that we will establish two intakes, and these intakes have to talk to each other and they have to talk with the police. I do not know what it takes, but it has to be sorted out and it has to be sorted out quickly.
Child Protection Services – Cases Awaiting Investigation
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER referred to MINISTER for HEALTH
The Board of Inquiry details that, in June, more than 870 children who had been reported as being at risk were awaiting formal investigation by the department. Your former Child Protection minister and now the Treasurer stated in a media release issued on 7 June 2006 that:
- When a report of child abuse or neglect is received, we investigate immediately.
How long has your government allowed hundreds of children to be at risk without an investigation? Was this disgraceful situation occurring in 2006, or is it solely a failure of the Henderson years?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the question from the Leader of the Opposition. This issue is of significant concern. We immediately asked questions of the agency as to the status of the backlog that was announced yesterday. It goes to the issues that were raised in part in the previous question from the member for Nelson regarding some of the systems and reporting tools used by departmental staff.
To answer the detail of the question, I will hand to the Health Minister.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, we received the report from the inquiry about the non-investigated cases and I immediately asked the department to brief me. The department had a look at these 1000 notifications, as alleged by the inquiry. We found a significant number of notifications were duplicates or triplicates - they referred to the same child. I asked for a full investigation of Category 1 and 2 cases, and that occurred. I am advised today that there are no cases of Category 1 children which have not commenced investigation.
Yes, there are problems. We acknowledge that and I am the first to say so. That is why we sought assistance from other states and we have now received 10 interstate workers. We have reallocated nine police officers in the intake to investigate, and also people from the policy area of the department have gone to intake to …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: We have asked people from the policy area to investigate. This is a system which is overwhelmed by demand. This is a system which investigates and receives notifications throughout the Territory, not like the good old days of 2000-01, where we received notifications only from urban centres like Darwin and Alice Springs.
Government Initiatives to Improve Outcomes for Aboriginal Children
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for INDIGENOUS DEVELOPMENT
More than 75% of children coming to the attention of the child protection system are from our Aboriginal families, and many of those are our families who live in remote and regional areas. How will this government, A Working Future initiatives, and joint partnership of the Australian government help to improve outcomes for our Aboriginal children and provide more appropriate responses to child protection for our kids’ future?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. This has been an incredible time in improving the lives of Indigenous people across the Northern Territory. I take this opportunity to personally thank Dr Howard Bath, Professor Muriel Bamblett and Dr Rob Roseby for agreeing to become members of the Board of Inquiry and for their report. I particularly acknowledge Professor Bamblett as I had an opportunity to visit the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, VACCA, in my former role as Minister for Child Protection, and saw the tremendous work being done under her leadership.
One of the things our government has been very aware of from the outset is that we were not only looking at the care of our children, we were looking at the livelihoods and the future of people across the Northern Territory. One of the things I said on Stateline last year was about growing our own: recognising that until we grew, and until we established the infrastructure across these regions of decades of neglect, knowing the issues of neglect were paramount to the concerns of children, in particular Aboriginal children, we had to make a substantial difference in building these growth towns.
Unlike members opposite, our government sees that it is not just the care of children we are talking about. It is the growth of our families, with the infrastructure to house, employ, and grow our own in every area of employment across the Northern Territory. This is why it was important in the terms of reference of this inquiry that the Board of Inquiry looked at the connection, including the delivery of child protection services, in regional and remote areas as part of the development of A Working Future.
There is a clear and obvious link to what our government is doing, not just in the case of the agency of Health and Families, but across Northern Territory agencies, with police, education, infrastructure, transport, and employment. By having that in the terms of reference we were then able to see, with the announcement this year of close to $1bn for the 20 growth towns, knowing that to deal with the neglect of these children we had to ensure we had a concerted effort, unlike members opposite, who do not care one bit.
Mr Giles: You were the child services minister who pulled the money out.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Braitling! Order!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minister, your time has expired. Resume your seat!
Honourable members, I do not have much of a voice today, if you could please pipe down a bit.
Child Protection Services – Backlog of Reports
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Given that you did not envisage the backlog of child protection reports awaiting investigation, and it appears that the member for Karama, the minister at the time, was either deceived by the department, or deliberately deceived the community …
Ms Lawrie: Not true.
Mr MILLS: Will you now - which is true?
Ms Lawrie: You are making it up.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Deputy Chief Minister, cease interjecting!
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Chief Minister, will you now release the figures which show the investigation backlog for the months of August and September 2010, and will you commit to releasing the backlog figures on a monthly basis so you will never again be able to say you failed to envisage the extent of the problem?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition’s question. We are taking real action. We are recruiting an additional 42 frontline staff to ensure that case loads are appropriate and manageable and up to best practice. That is taking action.
We are working to develop a dual intake system to ensure that, wherever possible …
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the point of relevance. It was a very specific question about a commitment to report backlog figures.
Madam SPEAKER: There was a fair bit of a preamble, Leader of the Opposition. Chief Minister, if you could come to the point reasonably soon.
Mr HENDERSON: We will be reporting, in an appropriate way, the status of those backlog figures. However, I am not going to turn this into a political circus for the Leader of the Opposition who pretends that he really – no, I take that back.
The Leader of the Opposition, like all of us, is genuinely concerned to see the children of the Northern Territory cared for and protected. However, I urge and caution the Leader of the Opposition, if he wants me as Chief Minister, and the government, to take him seriously on this issue, that he will apologise for the appalling automated phone call message which went out yesterday …
Mr Mills: It has nothing to do with me.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … seeking to trivialise and politicise this very serious issue …
Mr Mills: What are you doing, you know the facts?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … because he does not demonstrate, through actions like this, that he is genuine about turning things around …
Mr Mills: You are wrong. You are dead wrong.
Mr HENDERSON: He is searching for opportunities to politicise this issue to his advantage, to authorise, create, send out, use a company with close affiliation to the CLP to send out automated phone calls. My wife was at home yesterday - she had a day off - and picked up the phone to this amazing message making all sorts of untrue allegations and assertions.
I understand the Opposition Leader wants to see things improve, however, he needs to demonstrate he has the trust of this parliament before I can take him seriously.
Child Protection Services – Costs of Relocation of Staff
Ms ANDERSON to MINISTER for HEALTH
How much of the $130m over five years will be spent on relocation of staff from England and New Zealand to the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the government provided $14.6m in this year’s budget, and 56 people have been employed using this money. It does not matter whether they come from England, Victoria or New Zealand; money has to be spent relocating people. If you do not pay relocation expenses, you do not get workers. It is as simple as that.
The government will spend the money where it is needed. It will spend the money to attract professionals. It will spend the money legitimately; and will be accountable for the money spent because we want to see professionals on the ground.
If you do not want professionals, if you do not want child protection workers, you do not spend the money. I want child protection workers here because children in the Territory deserve better, deserve to be safe, deserve to be looked after …
Ms ANDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance. I asked how much of the $130m over five years will be used for the relocation of staff.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, resume your seat. Minister, you have the call.
Mr VATSKALIS: This government will do whatever it takes to ensure there are child protection workers on the ground to protect the children of the Territory.
Child Protection Services – Initiatives in Education
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
The Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System in the Northern Territory refers to the important role education plays in child protection. Can you please inform the House of current and future initiatives in education which will help make the Territory a safer place for children?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I was heartened when we received the briefing from the committee headed by Dr Bath, and the way they commended our principals and teachers working in the remote areas for the role they play in child protection. The concern of teachers and principals for the welfare of students was evident to the committee. These are people who have dedicated their lives to the education and welfare of students. We know our schools, education system, teachers and principals play a key role in child protection, and I commend them for that.
There is no doubt in my mind, out of the 400% increase in notifications since 2001 - I do not have the figures in front of me, but I am sure a substantial number of those notifications come from schools, principals, and teachers. We have people of goodwill already working in this area, and what a daunting task it is for them to work in social dysfunction and chaos, and the challenges they see every day.
The basis of this report is not that it is just a job for officers of Health and Families; this is a job for everyone - child protection for the whole of the community, for every health professional or educational professional - for all of us in the community. I commend teachers for the work they already do. The education system already has quite a number of checks and balances in place ensuring our teachers are screened for probity in child protection - we have the Ochre Card. They are trained in mandatory child protection and the policy around that.
I acknowledge that there is a greater role than just focusing on notifications. It is also a capacity-building role for parents and communities. We have child and family centres being rolled out in five of our remote communities, in Ngukurr, Maningrida, Yuendumu, Gunbalanya and Palmerston. Families as First Teachers is a joint program with the Commonwealth, which is all about addressing those issues about the arrears of Indigenous children as they come into the school system, and supporting parents to actually give a better start to their kids within our education system. We have universal access to preschool programs and mobile preschools.
What are we going to do? What is this report challenging us to do? It is challenging us as a government. It is very clear in this report that agencies are often working in isolation. We need to work together, and I am committed to doing that. My CEO of Education is committed to doing that and we will do it …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Child Abuse – Opposition’s Mandatory Reporting Policy
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Some 60% of reports of abuse and neglect come from professionals working with children. Under your government, at this moment, around 600 reports by professionals are yet to be investigated. Teachers, nurses, social workers are not prone to making frivolous reports of child abuse. The opposition has released a policy calling for the mandatory investigation of reports of child abuse and neglect by professionals working with children. Will you adopt the opposition’s policy requiring mandatory investigation of mandatory reports of child abuse by professionals?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we do have a policy of universal mandatory reporting. It was also this government that strengthened those requirements, particularly for people who work in the health sector, in regard to mandatory reporting of neglect, as well as abuse.
As my colleague said, in regard to the backlog, the advice we have had is that there are no Category 1 Child in Danger cases that have not commenced investigation. The only way we will have a sustainable response to the mandatory reporting issue is to build that dual pathway.
For those cases where children are reported with neglect issues, having those cases immediately investigated, on the ground, through an Indigenous non-government community organisation, will be far more effective and quicker than having to fly fully trained child protection workers many hours into communities.
This is all about what my colleague, the Education minister, just talked about, about agencies working in a more collaborative way, building the non-government sector, not just putting on more layers and layers of protection workers. We have to build resilience in communities. We have to work to build capability and capacity amongst parents to care for their children. The family and child wellbeing teams in these 20 communities will certainly strengthen the immediacy of our response.
I am advised by professionals that the policy position of the Leader of the Opposition is unworkable. It is unworkable, it is not achievable, and we would never be able to recruit a workforce that would immediately drop everything to investigate every assertion of neglect. It is about working smarter, working collaboratively across agencies, developing the non-government sector and the Indigenous sector, and strengthening communities. I urge the Leader of the Opposition to read the report, because that comes through very strongly.
It is not about more and more workers in the front line. We certainly have to do that in the interim, but to do that without strengthening support in communities, strengthening families, means we will be forever seeing the numbers and levels of reports increase.
Supplementary Question
Mandatory Reports – Release of Backlog Figures
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
I take it that you will not be committing to mandatory reporting, but I do ask then, do you commit to releasing the backlog figures for August and September of this year, and on a monthly basis going forward?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it was not really a supplementary, but just a repeat of a previous question.
As I have said, every report is investigated. We commit to that. We do have a backlog. That is why we are putting immediate, additional resources into the front line. However, that is not the answer to the problems that we are facing. It is about strengthening communities, it is about strengthening families, it is about having non-government peak bodies on the ground …
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Specific – will there be a monthly report so that we know whether this is actually the case or not, whether it is actually working or not? Simple question, point of relevance.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, if you could come to the point.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I will not be providing the Leader of the Opposition with sensitive information whilst he plays politics with the issue.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Alice Springs Youth Action Plan
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
Can you please outline to the House how the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan is supporting children and families?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. It is very important, given the debate and the tabling today in parliament of the Growing them strong, together report.
The youth action plan is all about helping young people avoid trouble and supporting those families, as well as tackling youth-related antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs. It is a plan that this government launched in February 2009, and it is the most comprehensive youth plan we have seen in the Northern Territory, and a plan that is specifically targeting Alice Springs.
The plan is about young people avoiding getting into trouble, which is reiterated in this report, particularly in the Foreword and the Executive Summary. On page 3 of the report, it talks about a stronger focus on programs and services for vulnerable and at risk children and families. That is what the youth action plan is doing. It is a collaboration of NT Families and Children, police, and the Education department, all working together on a multi-agency level.
The plan has already achieved much since February 2009, and it will continue to make an impact. The Police Beat in the Todd Mall has already been implemented and established. The Centralian Middle School is up and running, with more than 350 students. There is also the No School, No Service code, which I understand is being considered for implementation in Darwin and Palmerston. There is also more funding provided to non-government organisations, such as the Gap Youth Centre.
A new youth services coordinator has been appointed and is due to start work in Alice Springs today. I welcome Penny Drysdale on board as part of the youth action plan team. I also acknowledge Michael White, the Police Superintendent, who did a fantastic job leading up to Penny’s appointment.
The Youth Hub will be fully operational at ANZAC Hill High School in 2011, and will include an alternative education provider, government and non-government organisation youth service providers, and wrap-around educational services.
A Youth Street Outreach service has been operating since August this year; it operates on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The Youth Street Outreach service engages young people on the streets to ensure they are safe and supported, and to return them home or to a place of safety. Police report this resource gives them a valuable direct contact point for involving youth after hours. A successful interagency youth engagement operation was held on the weekend of 1 and 2 October, which saw 151 young people encouraged or assisted to return home, or to a safe place off the street.
As the report says, no one has a magic wand. The best that can be hoped for is an improvement over a 15-year period which is considered to be a generation in Aboriginal terms.
Child Protection Services – Staff Recruitment
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
One of the problems facing child protection services is the recruitment and retention of staff. Earlier this year, you announced an additional 76 frontline and support workers who would be recruited by Child Protection Services. How many of those 76 staff have been recruited so far, and how many of those recruited have already left the child protection system?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition would know that the recruitment and retention of specialist frontline staff is a significant issue across Australia. These people are in very short supply. That is why my colleague, the Minister for Children and Families, has announced we are searching overseas as well as within Australia to recruit those staff.
Very importantly, one of the key messages in this report is to grow our own workforce. It is absolutely, fundamentally critical for the future of the Northern Territory to grow that workforce and have that workforce located where people are living.
I am advised that 56 of those 76 positions have been recruited to, and I commend the minister and the department for seeking to bring people in from overseas as these people are almost impossible to recruit from within Australia.
Government Strategy to Provide Housing for Territory Families
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for PUBLIC and AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System in the Northern Territory reaffirms the nexus between housing and the wellbeing of our children. Will you update the Assembly on the government strategy to provide more housing for our Territory families?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, housing is an important determinant in child protection. I was heartened to read in the report, on page 113:
- The inquiry notes with interest that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services is moving from a focus on asset management to seeing itself as a human services agency, playing a greater role in training tenants around the use of appliances, hygiene and basic maintenance, amongst other things. This is both progressive and necessary.
As our remote rental framework moves through the remote regions of the Northern Territory, there will be more Territory Housing officers having contact with families in their homes on all the issues which have been mentioned there: hygiene, appliances and maintenance. Those issues are important. I see our frontline Housing staff being very important in child protection also. That is why I have already had discussions with my CEO on this issue and we will be cooperating with the interagency working group to ensure these Housing officers are adequately trained; some of them are already undergoing training in this vital area. This is a conduit with knowledge of child protection issues. We are developing a closer working relationship with police over a range of areas, including antisocial behaviour, and I see child protection as being an important element of that.
This House is well aware of the very important remote housing project - the SIHIP project. It has had its difficulties, but it is rolling out houses across the Territory. At several locations I visited in between these parliamentary sittings, I was heartened to see families moving into those houses, and saw the look of joy on the mothers’ faces that they had new houses and safe places to care for their children. We should not underestimate the basic need of housing as being a determinant of child protection, and a very important element of where we are going socially within the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016