$200m to reform child protection system in South Australia, by Michael Owen, Verity Edwards, Australian (August 8, 2016)

An initial $200 million over four years will be spent by the Weatherill government to begin implementing wideranging reforms based on 260 recommendations of a 850-page final report of a royal commission into South Australia’s troubled child protection system.

Premier Jay Weatherill has today apologised for failings amid findings one in four children in the state is subject of some form of notification to authorities.

“It is true that we’ve failed ... the commissioner doesn’t apportion blame,” Mr Weatherill said.

In her report, Commissioner Margaret Nyland said problems with child protection systems were not unique to South Australia, although the state had the “dubious distinction” of caring for a higher proportion of infants and young children on a rotational basis, by commercial shift workers, than anywhere else and relied on this form of care more than any other jurisdiction.

Mr Weatherill said many recommendations will require legislative change and disciplinary action had started in relation to some findings.

A copy of the report will be provided to the commonwealth Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as well as to the Council of Australian Governments for consideration.

The South Australian royal commission was established two years ago in response to the case of paedophile foster carer Shannon McCoole and was widened due to widespread community disquiet about the state’s child protection system following several scandals under Mr Weatherill’s watch.

“My government accepts full responsibility for the failings of the state’s child protection system in keeping children safe. We failed to protect the children left in the care of Shannon McCoole. We failed in our responsibility to keep these and other children safe from harm. I am sorry for failing in this most fundamental duty to the children in our care,” Mr Weatherill said.

Education and Child Development Minister Susan Close said prevention and early intervention were key to keeping children safe.

“I am committed to improving the foster care system and will work with current carers and agencies on this,” Dr Close said.

“Aboriginal people, in particular, are over represented in the child protection system and as a result they and other vulnerable groups such as people with disability must be involved in implementing the reforms.”

Key recommendations of the report include the phasing out of commercial childcare workers; not allowing social workers to close case files due to a lack of resources; all child protection workers being subject to a public screening register; residential care homes to house no more than four children unless siblings; children under 10 will no longer be kept in care homes unless being kept with siblings; and complaints of abuse by carers to be investigated within 48 hours and finalised within six weeks in most cases.

The government had accepted an interim recommendation from the royal commission to establish a new child protection department which will be separated from the department of education and has started an international recruitment campaign for a new chief after Ms Nyland said Families SA was in crisis and needed to be completely overhauled.