Reforms announced by Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington represent bold first steps toward a child protection system that better safeguards the interests of children and their families.
The changes include banning dangerous alternative care arrangements (ACAs), harsher penalties for third-party care providers who fail to meet reporting requirements and child welfare outcomes, and new foster care and casework capacity and support.
Greens MP and spokesperson for youth justice Sue Higginson said "These are welcome reforms which are absolutely necessary and long overdue,"
"For too long, the child protection system has split families, crushed foster carers, and funnelled untold public money to for-profit companies while actively harming children. The Department and previous governments have been complicit,"
"Today's announcement is a brave first step, but it is just the first step. The Government must invest in early and genuine family support, and stable, permanent and culturally appropriate out-of-home care. They must clear out the entire out-of-home care system of profiteers who have commodified the harm of young people,"
"The Minister has a duty to overhaul the way this state cares for its most vulnerable children and the support of the Parliament to do so. For the sake of the children and young people, we can't waste any more time," Ms Higginson said.
The reforms follow an unambiguous briefing to senior decision-makers at the Department of Communities and Justice in which the Minister warned that "the government's ultimate responsibility cannot be outsourced," and criticised a department that "sometimes wraps itself in cotton wool, instead of the child we're protecting, or the family we're supporting.
