2015-10-21
Child protection – accountability of outsourced child protection system
NINA SPRINGLE: My question is to the Minister for Families and Children. During the two weeks prior to the tabling of the Commission for Children and Young People's report in August, the commission learned that as many as 40 children in residential care had made allegations about sexual abuse and sexual assault. The minister recently confirmed that neither she nor the Department of Health and Human Services requires staff who work in residential care units to possess minimum qualifications, such as a certificate IV in child, youth and family intervention. Given the level of crisis in Victoria's residential care system, can the minister explain why staff who work in residential care units are not required to have a minimum appropriate qualification?
MINISTER MIKAKOS: I thank the member for her question. As I have indicated to the house, the government has accepted in principle all the recommendations of the commissioner for children and young people in his recent report tabled in the Parliament. There has been a range of work undertaken both prior to that report being tabled in the Parliament and subsequently.
In relation to the specific issue that the member refers to in terms of the qualifications of staff, this is an issue that my department is examining in consultation with the community sector. There have been a range of measures put in place around enhancing training for community sector workers who work in residential care. However, it is the case — and I confirm that to the member — that there have not been any mandatory qualifications for residential care workers. This has been a longstanding issue, and it will be an issue that will require a great deal of effort on everyone's part to address.
However, the member can be assured that we have been taking a number of steps to improve the safety of residential care, whether that is through supporting our own workforce working in the department, being more supportive of the workforce working in the community sector who work in the residential care units, increasing supervision of young people through the mandated stand-up shifts in standard residential care units that I referred to earlier, which was introduced just this year, or the introduction for the first time of the spot audits, which I referred to earlier, just this year. We have also introduced $43 million in targeted care packages just this year to start to move young people out of residential care and into home-based care options. We are doing a range of things to make residential care safer and to provide for the safety of children and young people in those units.
We are also undertaking a major reform project, which I have spoken to the member about in the house before, entitled the Roadmap for Reform. That work is underway at the moment. That work is looking at how we can improve the child protection and out-of-home care system more broadly by looking at the system in a very holistic way — looking right at the start of the process in terms of the kinds of support that vulnerable families receive through universal services, through our early years services, putting a greater emphasis on early intervention and prevention, as well as looking at ultimately how we can address residential care and make that safer. A range of reforms are being examined, and this is one of those issues that will be looked at as part of that reform process.
NINA SPRINGLE: I thank the minister for her answer. I am pleased to hear about all of that and that the government is taking a holistic approach to some of these issues, although I do point to the fact that surely there are few other occupations that involve working with vulnerable children that allow people who are not appropriately qualified to get jobs. It is not really an issue for debate that we want minimum standards of service provision in these roles and therefore people need to be adequately educated in that way. Why will the minister not just commit to a minimum qualification for staff who are working with these children? Why is there a need to explore options?
MINISTER MIKAKOS: The point I want to make to the member is that I regard residential care as a last resort option. My focus has been on looking at how we can move young people out of residential care over time. We need to look at how we can improve the safety of young people through increased supervision, and the issue of qualifications is just one issue of many that needs to be examined in terms of how we provide better outcomes for young people in residential care. Just last sitting week I was advising the member about how we are working to improve educational outcomes for young people in residential care and out-of-home care more broadly through the establishment of the LOOKOUT centres. A range of measures are being examined in terms of how we improve outcomes for young people in out-of-home care.
NINA SPRINGLE: My question is for the Minister for Families and Children. As I recalled in my earlier question, as many as 40 children in residential care units in Victoria had made allegations about sexual abuse or sexual assault during two weeks in August this year, yet in her answer to question on notice 1301 the minister confirmed that neither she nor the Department of Health and Human Services requires community organisations that operate residential care units to report the number of hours worked in those units by temporary labour hire staff. In other words, the minister has no way of knowing who is working in those units. Can the minister explain how accountability can be maintained in Victoria's outsourced child protection system if community organisations that operate residential care units are not required to report the number of hours worked in those units by temporary labour hire staff?
MINISTER MIKAKOS: I thank the member for her further substantive question. I know the member has referred to an answer that I have given her to a question on notice. I am certain that the answer was far more expansive than the member is wishing to suggest by virtue of her question. I would be quite certain that I also referred in that answer — and I will do so in the house — to the fact that all of these community service providers are subject to specific standards that they are required to meet through contractual arrangements with the Department of Health and Human Services.
It is correct, as the member asserts, that the staff in residential care units are contracted directly with community service organisations. They are not employed by the Department of Health and Human Services, and therefore all the information relating to the numbers of staff, the qualifications of staff and whether they are permanent or casual staff, or whatever their workplace arrangements might be, is information that the community sector organisation is privy to. However, I am aware that the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, as the peak body representing the sector, has surveyed its sector members — I believe last year — around these issues and was able to gain a better understanding of what the workplace practices are.
I know that the use of casual staff or labour hire staff is something that varies from agency to agency. I would certainly hope that these agencies would be working overtime to reduce their reliance on such staff. It is important of course that staff have positive relationships with the young people that they are caring for, and we know that those relationships of trust can be built and strengthened over time where they have ongoing involvement with the same people and they get to develop a stronger relationship.
The information that the member has sought in a question on notice has been responded to in writing. I can assure the member there are standards that we expect our community sector organisations to follow in respect of these matters, and in relation to critical incidents I can assure the member that I take these matters very seriously and my department takes these matters very seriously. This is why we have now introduced new measures, in particular the spot audits, which these residential care units were not subject to before — going in and identifying issues where those standards, particularly around safety, have not been complied with and working in a very proactive way with the community sector to improve standards and to improve outcomes for those very vulnerable young people who are residing in residential care.
NINA SPRINGLE: I thank the minister for her answer. The minister has responsibility to ensure that accountability within the structure of Victoria's child protection system is maintained. While I think it is good that improvements have been made, my question was specifically around data in terms of who is employed to work in residential care units. I would like to ask the minister why she will not insist that the department collect, collate and publish data related to who is working in residential care units.
MINISTER MIKAKOS: I think I have already responded at some length to the member's question, and I have made it clear that we have standards that we expect community sector organisations to comply with. They are not employees directly employed by the department; they are employed by community sector organisations. We rely on and contract community sector organisations across many areas, not just in out-of-home care but in many other sectors, whether it is disability services or housing services.
It is a very difficult task that the member is requesting — for the department essentially to have oversight over the employment practices of many thousands of community sector organisations right across the state, providing a whole range of different services. Essentially that goes to the heart of the members request. We are working with the sector to improve the safety, the standards and the outcomes for young people in residential care.