Ms O’CONNOR question to MINISTER for EDUCATION and MINISTER for CHILDREN and YOUTH, Ms PALMER
Minister, today you joined around a hundred people at a beautiful ceremony to celebrate 40 years of the Fostering Kinship Carers Association (FKAT) and to thank foster carers for the work they do caring for the state’s most vulnerable people. While you expressed your genuine appreciation for the care they provide to vulnerable young Tasmanians today, carers can provide multiple examples of what they feel is disrespect from Child Safety Service. There’s also been no response so far from your office to an invitation to meet with carers that’s been forwarded by my colleague, the Greens’ spokesperson for children and young people, Ms Rosol. There’s a frustration from carers about a system that forces them to go to court, and potentially lose their houses to pay for it, to get their foster children returned to their care after they’ve cleared up care concern allegations; widespread lack of support for carers, despite the difficult behaviours they manage every day and the pivotal role they play in meeting the needs of children in care. Minister, there is a mismatch between the government’s words and how carers are experiencing their work on the ground. Will you meet with the carers as requested and will you back up your expressed genuine appreciation for the work they do by ensuring fostering kinship carers are respected and provided with real, tangible support for their roles?
ANSWER
I thank the honourable member for the question. Can I also thank those in the House who attended the event today? It was quite beautiful and lovely to see people who’ve travelled from all parts of the state to be part of that event. I think as one of the speakers noted, our foster and kinship carers never seek recognition for the work that they do. It’s often very quiet work, but exceptionally important work and I think it was lovely for them to have that time today in our parliament, when we were all able to come together and recognise what we do.
There was a number of different elements to your question, so I will try to address them. If I miss any, if you could let me know while I’m still on my feet. With regards to an invitation to meet with certain people, I meet with numerous people all the time and am very open to meeting with people. I have to be very careful; I can’t always identify particular cohorts that I meet with or the individuals I meet with. I can, however, say that in the diary for next week there is, in fact, a meeting with FKAT, whose 40th birthday we celebrated today. If you have some specific examples that you’re referring to, I’m very happy for you to talk to me about that.
Ms O’Connor – Through you, Mr President, there’s a letter in your office that’s an invitation to meet with some carers from Cecily.
Ms PALMER – Yes, and I understand that has been actioned.
Ms O’Connor – Oh, it has, okay.
Ms PALMER – Thank you. I think – was that? I think that was –
Ms O’Connor – Well, what else? I mean, the last part of the question was what will your government do to ensure carers feel genuinely respected and receive real, tangible support?
Ms PALMER – I think some of the ways that we are doing that have been through the collaboration that we’ve had with FKAT producing a new foster and kinship carer’s handbook, which I spoke about today. That’s where we’re able to provide information for foster and kinship carers. Whilst it’s for all foster and kinship carers, it is a really valuable resource for our new foster and kinship carers. Also, through the advocacy group, who’ve played quite a significant role in working with the department through the Uplifting Care initiative, which is an exceptional body of work that we have been doing. The voice of our carers has been front and centre in that work and it’s certainly been acknowledged today. I think the chair, Maggie, spoke about that collaboration.
The opportunity to put on the record our government’s significant appreciation and thanks for our foster and kinship carers – indeed, we were able to make that commitment to see the base rate for foster and kinship carer payments increased in September of this year. We are continuing that support by investing an additional $8 million over four years in that space. We work closely with them and we are always open to new ways that we can be further engaging. And, certainly, in the work that we are doing in this space, the voice of lived experience, the voices of our carers, foster carers, and kinship carers is vitally important and has played a significant role in the reform work that we’re doing.
