Staffing in child safety has been an ongoing issue under the Liberals, but new information provided to the Greens shows the situation has reached a desperate new low in recent weeks.
Data provided to a Commission of Inquiry response hearing a fortnight ago showed 31% of child safety officer positions across the combined north and north-west were vacant.
As if a third of positions being vacant wasn’t bad enough, we understand the actual staffing situation is far worse than this. Accounting for staff on extended leave (e.g. due to workers compensation), the staffing on the ground has reached desperately low levels.
We understand on 30 August only six staff were actually at work in the north and north west – out of a total of 39 positions. That’s 85% of positions unavailable to help children in need. And this isn’t an isolated instance.
The Greens and many advocates have been consistently raising the issues with staffing in child safety since long before the Commission of Inquiry, only to be ignored. Given how bad things have become, we wonder what it will take before the Minister finally pulls out all the stops to address this critical issue and keep children safe.
