❓ Hon Stephen Dawson questions the Minister for Child Protection regarding a review of legal services, staffing changes, court application timeliness, and communication following a Supreme Court ruling. The Minister provides details on staffing, data limitations, communication efforts, and interim order preparations.
AnsweredQoN 650Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT
FOR CHILD PROTECTION AND FAMILY SUPPORT — LEGAL SERVICES REVIEW
650. Hon STEPHEN DAWSON to the
Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the review of legal services within the Department
for Child Protection and Family Support.
(1) How many
legal officer FTEs were abolished and from which date did a reduction in legal
services take effect?
(2) In cases in
which a child has been taken into care, in how many instances has the
department failed to submit applications to the Children's Court within
the required two-day time frame for —
(a) the 12 months prior to the date
in response to question (1); and
(b) since the date in response to
question (1)?
(3) How many
letters has the department written to inform affected families as a result of
the recent Supreme Court ruling?
(4) How many
interim orders are currently being prepared as a result of the recent Supreme
Court decision?
FOR CHILD PROTECTION AND FAMILY SUPPORT — LEGAL SERVICES REVIEW
650. Hon STEPHEN DAWSON to the
Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the review of legal services within the Department
for Child Protection and Family Support.
(1) How many
legal officer FTEs were abolished and from which date did a reduction in legal
services take effect?
(2) In cases in
which a child has been taken into care, in how many instances has the
department failed to submit applications to the Children's Court within
the required two-day time frame for —
(a) the 12 months prior to the date
in response to question (1); and
(b) since the date in response to
question (1)?
(3) How many
letters has the department written to inform affected families as a result of
the recent Supreme Court ruling?
(4) How many
interim orders are currently being prepared as a result of the recent Supreme
Court decision?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of the question.
(1) Effective
from 30 June 2013, two FTE positions from the civil litigation unit ceased and
two FTE positions were transferred, together with various functions, to the
State Solicitor's Office. Since that time, two new FTEs have been
allocated to legal services, including a practice director as well as a legal
officer.
(2) This
information is not stored electronically. To access the information, a manual
count would need to occur, which is not a viable use of the Department for
Child Protection and Family Support's resources.
(3) All
affected families and their legal representatives will receive a letter. To
date, approximately 170 letters have been written. The department is in the
process of completing the issuing of letters. Letters are being sent by
caseworkers and in some instances by legal services, depending on the stage of
the court proceedings. In many instances, the letters have been hand-delivered.
(4) The
department is in the process of preparing applications for interim orders for
all affected families. To date, the department has attended to approximately 65
cases and is currently preparing a further 105 interim order applications.
(1) Effective
from 30 June 2013, two FTE positions from the civil litigation unit ceased and
two FTE positions were transferred, together with various functions, to the
State Solicitor's Office. Since that time, two new FTEs have been
allocated to legal services, including a practice director as well as a legal
officer.
(2) This
information is not stored electronically. To access the information, a manual
count would need to occur, which is not a viable use of the Department for
Child Protection and Family Support's resources.
(3) All
affected families and their legal representatives will receive a letter. To
date, approximately 170 letters have been written. The department is in the
process of completing the issuing of letters. Letters are being sent by
caseworkers and in some instances by legal services, depending on the stage of
the court proceedings. In many instances, the letters have been hand-delivered.
(4) The
department is in the process of preparing applications for interim orders for
all affected families. To date, the department has attended to approximately 65
cases and is currently preparing a further 105 interim order applications.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.