Hon. Stephen Dawson questions the Minister for Child Protection regarding a failure to follow up on a notification about a child in the care of a convicted child sex abuser, and actions taken to prevent similar failures.

AnsweredQoN 1056Legislative Council
Asked
24 September 2014
Portfolio
Child Protection

QuestionView source ↗

DEPARTMENT
FOR CHILD PROTECTION AND FAMILY SUPPORT — DAVID FARNELL
1056. Hon STEPHEN DAWSON to the
Minister for Child Protection:
I again refer to the minister's answer to question
without notice 1034 asked yesterday that —
On 15 May 2014 information was
provided to the Department for Child Protection and Family Support that a Mr
Farnell had been previously convicted for child sexual abuse offences and had a
child in his care through an unknown arrangement.
(1) When did the
minister become aware that the department had not properly followed up a child
protection notification about a baby in the care of a convicted child sex
abuser?
(2) What action
has the minister taken to ensure that every other notification of concern for a
child's safety made to the department while the department was, as she
described on radio, ''under pressure'', has been followed up?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for some notice
of the question.
(1) The
Department for Child Protection and Family Support provided a verbal briefing
on 4 August 2014 and a written briefing note to the minister—that is me—on
5 August 2014, which included the previous involvement.
(2) The
department has conducted a review of front-end operations and identified new
resources to establish a second assessment team in the south west district.

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