❓ Question regarding the implementation and effectiveness of Responsible Parenting Agreements under the Parental Support and Responsibility Act 2008. The answer reveals low uptake and highlights alternative interventions used by the Department for Child Protection and other agencies.
AnsweredQoN 1954Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) For the period 1 September 2009 until 30 November 2009, how many Responsible Parenting Agreements have the Department for Child Protection implemented?
(2) How many of those Responsible Parenting Agreements listed above originated from a referral from another State Government Department, and how many were referred by each department?
(3) How many parents approached to enter into a Responsible Parenting Agreement during this period, refused the agreement?
(4) How many Responsible Parenting Agreements included an agreement for the parents to, -
(a) take part in counselling or parenting skills training;
(b) take reasonable steps to ensure their child attends school;
(c) take reasonable steps to ensure their child avoids contact with particular people or places; or
(d) undertake other measures?
(5) How many juveniles, whose parents agreed to a Responsible Parenting Agreement have, -
(a) improved their attendance at school; and
(b) re-offended since the Agreement was made?
(2) How many of those Responsible Parenting Agreements listed above originated from a referral from another State Government Department, and how many were referred by each department?
(3) How many parents approached to enter into a Responsible Parenting Agreement during this period, refused the agreement?
(4) How many Responsible Parenting Agreements included an agreement for the parents to, -
(a) take part in counselling or parenting skills training;
(b) take reasonable steps to ensure their child attends school;
(c) take reasonable steps to ensure their child avoids contact with particular people or places; or
(d) undertake other measures?
(5) How many juveniles, whose parents agreed to a Responsible Parenting Agreement have, -
(a) improved their attendance at school; and
(b) re-offended since the Agreement was made?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
23 March 2010
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection
Response time
20 days
(1) - (2) For the period 1 September 2009 to 30 November 2009, no Responsible Parenting Agreements or Orders have been implemented by Chief Executive Officer's (CEO's) of the Department for Child Protection, the Department of Education and the Department of Corrective Services.
It is noted that under the
Parental Support and Responsibility Act 2008
, a Responsible Parenting Agreement must be attempted before a Responsible Parenting Order is sought, and that attempts to engage the parents voluntarily must be exhausted before a Responsible Parenting Agreement is sought. The Department for Child Protection achieves very high levels of engagement with referrals to its dedicated Parent Support services.
For the period 1 September 2009 to 30 November 2009, the origin of referrals to the Department for Child Protection's Parent Support services are approximately 43 per cent from the Department for Child Protection, 36 per cent from the Department of Education, 2 per cent from the Department of Corrective Services . The remaining 19 per cent come from a range of other government agencies including the Department of Health, Disability Services Commission and some non-government organisations.
The Department for Child Protection is working in collaboration with the Department of Education and Department of Corrective Services to promote opportunities to apply the agreement and order provisions of the
Parental Support and Responsibility Act 2008
. This includes a focus on targeted areas, being Northbridge (referrals arising from the curfew), Kalgoorlie and Kununurra, developing interagency service provision opportunities to support Responsible Parenting Agreements, interagency staff training, and some adaptation of the Parent Support model for Aboriginal communities.
As at 28 February 2010, one Responsible Parenting Agreement had been signed by the Department for Child Protection and four agreements were being constructed. This is the situation at that point in time and does not reflect the number of agreements that may have been constructed but where the process of doing so achieved the parents' voluntary engagement.
(3) In the majority of cases referred from within the Department for Child Protection in which the parents did not engage, an agreement was not pursued because the interests of the children were met through a different arrangement, including through a child protection intervention. Parents who were referred from the Department of Education and did not engage were not pursued as the majority of these concerned school non-attendance for which other specific legislated interventions are available.
(4) - (5) Not applicable
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
It is noted that under the
Parental Support and Responsibility Act 2008
, a Responsible Parenting Agreement must be attempted before a Responsible Parenting Order is sought, and that attempts to engage the parents voluntarily must be exhausted before a Responsible Parenting Agreement is sought. The Department for Child Protection achieves very high levels of engagement with referrals to its dedicated Parent Support services.
For the period 1 September 2009 to 30 November 2009, the origin of referrals to the Department for Child Protection's Parent Support services are approximately 43 per cent from the Department for Child Protection, 36 per cent from the Department of Education, 2 per cent from the Department of Corrective Services . The remaining 19 per cent come from a range of other government agencies including the Department of Health, Disability Services Commission and some non-government organisations.
The Department for Child Protection is working in collaboration with the Department of Education and Department of Corrective Services to promote opportunities to apply the agreement and order provisions of the
Parental Support and Responsibility Act 2008
. This includes a focus on targeted areas, being Northbridge (referrals arising from the curfew), Kalgoorlie and Kununurra, developing interagency service provision opportunities to support Responsible Parenting Agreements, interagency staff training, and some adaptation of the Parent Support model for Aboriginal communities.
As at 28 February 2010, one Responsible Parenting Agreement had been signed by the Department for Child Protection and four agreements were being constructed. This is the situation at that point in time and does not reflect the number of agreements that may have been constructed but where the process of doing so achieved the parents' voluntary engagement.
(3) In the majority of cases referred from within the Department for Child Protection in which the parents did not engage, an agreement was not pursued because the interests of the children were met through a different arrangement, including through a child protection intervention. Parents who were referred from the Department of Education and did not engage were not pursued as the majority of these concerned school non-attendance for which other specific legislated interventions are available.
(4) - (5) Not applicable
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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.