❓ Dr. Honey questions the Minister for Child Protection about the effectiveness of the Department of Communities and the Target 120 program in addressing at-risk children in Carnarvon. The Minister defends the government's initiatives and highlights positive outcomes and increased resources.
AnsweredQoN 456Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
AT-RISK CHILDREN — CARNARVON
456. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the recent comments of
the president of the Shire of Carnarvon, Eddie Smith —
Ms S. Winton interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
member for Wanneroo!
Dr D.J. HONEY : — in
which he pleaded for the government to clean up Carnarvon, which he said looks
like a war zone, with out of control —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members! I am going to ask the Leader of the Liberal Party to start his
question again, and I will ask him to start it again as many times as we need
to so that we can hear it.
Dr D.J. HONEY : Thank you very
much, Madam Speaker.
I refer to the recent comments of
the president of the Shire of Carnarvon, Eddie Smith, in which he pleaded for
the government to clean up Carnarvon, which he said looks like a war zone, with
out-of-control and ongoing domestic violence and child abuse.
(1) When will the
minister acknowledge that the mega-department that is the Department of
Communities is failing children in Carnarvon and across Western Australia?
(2) Given that
the government's Target 120 program is yet to show a meaningful
reduction in the number of at-risk children elsewhere, what other initiatives
is she undertaking to take care of children in Carnarvon forgotten by her
government?
456. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the recent comments of
the president of the Shire of Carnarvon, Eddie Smith —
Ms S. Winton interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
member for Wanneroo!
Dr D.J. HONEY : — in
which he pleaded for the government to clean up Carnarvon, which he said looks
like a war zone, with out of control —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members! I am going to ask the Leader of the Liberal Party to start his
question again, and I will ask him to start it again as many times as we need
to so that we can hear it.
Dr D.J. HONEY : Thank you very
much, Madam Speaker.
I refer to the recent comments of
the president of the Shire of Carnarvon, Eddie Smith, in which he pleaded for
the government to clean up Carnarvon, which he said looks like a war zone, with
out-of-control and ongoing domestic violence and child abuse.
(1) When will the
minister acknowledge that the mega-department that is the Department of
Communities is failing children in Carnarvon and across Western Australia?
(2) Given that
the government's Target 120 program is yet to show a meaningful
reduction in the number of at-risk children elsewhere, what other initiatives
is she undertaking to take care of children in Carnarvon forgotten by her
government?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) It
amazes me that the member for Cottesloe and Leader of the Liberal Party would
ask these questions of us partly because earlier in question time we talked
about a very successful program that has been trialled under the Department of
Communities and has started to make a real difference to the lives of those
young people who are now involved in it.
Dr D.J. Honey :
Not kids over 18; I'm talking about kids who are six to 12 and on the
streets.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Perhaps the
member might listen to the answer.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Cottesloe, you have asked the question. Please allow the minister to answer.
Ms S.F. McGURK : The member
referred to Target 120, and I am glad that he did because it is another program
that the Department of Communities is responsible for and that this government
has committed to, has funded and has been rolling out in a number of
communities across the state—11 to date. In all those communities,
there have been very good outcomes for the young people involved. About 50 per
cent of the young people have had no interactions with police since being
involved in the program, and that is a significant impact considering the
cohort involved. There were numerous incidents with the police and numerous
interactions with the court system to the extent that they were not detained.
Target 120 is a very positive program and I am proud of it. I am also proud
that we have been able to extend it to another nine sites, including Carnarvon.
We are getting on with two things, one of which is appointing someone in the Department
of Communities to begin the work of identifying the young people, contacting
their families and seeing whether they want to be involved in the program. It
requires a level of engagement to get change, but they are now well practised
at that. Eventually, where we can, we will transition to Aboriginal-controlled
organisations to do that work. I think it would be no surprise that we are more
likely to get good engagement with those young people and families through
Aboriginal organisations. That is providing early intervention with young
people before they are detained to try to stop them going into the youth
justice system. We know that those people have poor outcomes. I am proud of
that program.
We
have also put resources into Carnarvon. We have a regional office and child
protection staff there. I was r eminded of a letter I got from someone we
have heard about a bit this afternoon, Eddie Smith, the shire president, in February this year in which he thanked me for the
relocation of senior child protection staff to Carnarvon. He said —
Dear Minister McGurk
�
Please accept this letter of
acknowledgement and thanks for relocating a senior member of the Department of
Communities team, Rochelle Binks, Regional Executive Director Mid West
Gascoyne, to Carnarvon. The Shire of Carnarvon is delighted with this decision.
�
Again
Minister, we express our thanks to you for recognising the need in Carnarvon
and for responding to that need in such a positive manner. I would also take
this opportunity to please invite you to Carnarvon �
I acknowledge that there is work to
do. There is no doubt about that. Many of the issues that are being confronted
in regional WA and, in fact, in parts of the metropolitan area have been many
generations in the making, and they will not
be turned around despite the hysteria that the opposition is trying to whip up
between now and the by-election . They will not be turned around in that
time. We are putting in place additional resources. Since coming to office, we have put into our system over 200 more
case-carrying child protection workers. In fact, 224 new FTEs are doing case-carrying child protection work on the ground. What did the opposition do
about child protection? Can anyone think of what the opposition did about child
protection? Anything? Name one thing.
Ms A. Sanderson interjected.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Yes, that is
right—it increased the number of Aboriginal kids in care!
In conclusion, can I address the
issue about this so-called mega-department. It has about 6 000 people working
in it. It is actually a little smaller than the Western Australia Police Force
and much smaller than other agencies such as the Departments of Education and
Health and the like. It is not a mega-department. You guys need to get out a bit more. It is a department doing very tough
work. I take a moment to ask members opposite to think about the people
who work in that department. Every time the Leader of the Opposition says that
it is a dysfunctional department, every time she criticises their work, every
time she talks about them as a mega-department and every time she says that
there is widespread racism in the department, she is criticising child
protection staff and those on the ground working in the most difficult
circumstances. I would like to thank them for their work and applaud them for
their efforts.
amazes me that the member for Cottesloe and Leader of the Liberal Party would
ask these questions of us partly because earlier in question time we talked
about a very successful program that has been trialled under the Department of
Communities and has started to make a real difference to the lives of those
young people who are now involved in it.
Dr D.J. Honey :
Not kids over 18; I'm talking about kids who are six to 12 and on the
streets.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Perhaps the
member might listen to the answer.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Cottesloe, you have asked the question. Please allow the minister to answer.
Ms S.F. McGURK : The member
referred to Target 120, and I am glad that he did because it is another program
that the Department of Communities is responsible for and that this government
has committed to, has funded and has been rolling out in a number of
communities across the state—11 to date. In all those communities,
there have been very good outcomes for the young people involved. About 50 per
cent of the young people have had no interactions with police since being
involved in the program, and that is a significant impact considering the
cohort involved. There were numerous incidents with the police and numerous
interactions with the court system to the extent that they were not detained.
Target 120 is a very positive program and I am proud of it. I am also proud
that we have been able to extend it to another nine sites, including Carnarvon.
We are getting on with two things, one of which is appointing someone in the Department
of Communities to begin the work of identifying the young people, contacting
their families and seeing whether they want to be involved in the program. It
requires a level of engagement to get change, but they are now well practised
at that. Eventually, where we can, we will transition to Aboriginal-controlled
organisations to do that work. I think it would be no surprise that we are more
likely to get good engagement with those young people and families through
Aboriginal organisations. That is providing early intervention with young
people before they are detained to try to stop them going into the youth
justice system. We know that those people have poor outcomes. I am proud of
that program.
We
have also put resources into Carnarvon. We have a regional office and child
protection staff there. I was r eminded of a letter I got from someone we
have heard about a bit this afternoon, Eddie Smith, the shire president, in February this year in which he thanked me for the
relocation of senior child protection staff to Carnarvon. He said —
Dear Minister McGurk
�
Please accept this letter of
acknowledgement and thanks for relocating a senior member of the Department of
Communities team, Rochelle Binks, Regional Executive Director Mid West
Gascoyne, to Carnarvon. The Shire of Carnarvon is delighted with this decision.
�
Again
Minister, we express our thanks to you for recognising the need in Carnarvon
and for responding to that need in such a positive manner. I would also take
this opportunity to please invite you to Carnarvon �
I acknowledge that there is work to
do. There is no doubt about that. Many of the issues that are being confronted
in regional WA and, in fact, in parts of the metropolitan area have been many
generations in the making, and they will not
be turned around despite the hysteria that the opposition is trying to whip up
between now and the by-election . They will not be turned around in that
time. We are putting in place additional resources. Since coming to office, we have put into our system over 200 more
case-carrying child protection workers. In fact, 224 new FTEs are doing case-carrying child protection work on the ground. What did the opposition do
about child protection? Can anyone think of what the opposition did about child
protection? Anything? Name one thing.
Ms A. Sanderson interjected.
Ms S.F. McGURK : Yes, that is
right—it increased the number of Aboriginal kids in care!
In conclusion, can I address the
issue about this so-called mega-department. It has about 6 000 people working
in it. It is actually a little smaller than the Western Australia Police Force
and much smaller than other agencies such as the Departments of Education and
Health and the like. It is not a mega-department. You guys need to get out a bit more. It is a department doing very tough
work. I take a moment to ask members opposite to think about the people
who work in that department. Every time the Leader of the Opposition says that
it is a dysfunctional department, every time she criticises their work, every
time she talks about them as a mega-department and every time she says that
there is widespread racism in the department, she is criticising child
protection staff and those on the ground working in the most difficult
circumstances. I would like to thank them for their work and applaud them for
their efforts.
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