❓ Dr. Stratton asks about the McGowan government's investment in early intervention services and its impact on reducing the number of children in out-of-home care. The Minister highlights investments and a reduction in children entering care, particularly Aboriginal children.
AnsweredQoN 427Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CHILD
PROTECTION — EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES
427. Dr K. STRATTON to the Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the McGowan government's
ongoing commitment to keeping Western Australian children safe and supporting
vulnerable families.
(1) Can the minister update the house on the
significant investment being made into early intervention services?
(2) Can the
minister outline to the house how the work being undertaken by this government
is reducing the number of children in out-of-home care?
PROTECTION — EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES
427. Dr K. STRATTON to the Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the McGowan government's
ongoing commitment to keeping Western Australian children safe and supporting
vulnerable families.
(1) Can the minister update the house on the
significant investment being made into early intervention services?
(2) Can the
minister outline to the house how the work being undertaken by this government
is reducing the number of children in out-of-home care?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Thank
you very much for the question, member. I would like to take the opportunity to
update members on some important work that the McGowan government is doing to
create better outcomes in the child protection system.
Members, it is a sad reality that
Aboriginal children make up 57 per cent of children in care, but it is not a reality
that this government is prepared to accept. Although child safety must always
be our priority, we know that we can make
inroads into reducing the number of Aboriginal children being taken into care.
It is a key measure in the new Closing the Gap targets agreed to by all
jurisdictions. This ambition requires concerted effort, which must be done in
partnership with Aboriginal people, communities and organisations. We are doing
just that, and these efforts are producing results. I am pleased to announce
that Western Australia has now recorded the lowest annual rate of children
coming into care for more than 20 years.
Government members: Hear, hear!
Ms S.F. McGURK : That is
right. For the first time in 20 years, there has been a reduction in the number
of children coming into care. Significantly, the number of Aboriginal children
in care has reduced by nearly one per cent—0.8 per cent—which
is the first reduction since 1996. We credit these promising results to our
commitment to early intervention.
As a government, we have invested a total
of $112.5 million towards early intervention in child protection. One program being delivered is the Aboriginal
in-home support service. For families engaged in that service, between April 2019 and March 2020, 91 per cent of children had been kept safely at home
12 months later—91 per cent. Earlier this year, I was pleased to
announce an $8.8 million investment in the Aboriginal in-home support service, led by Wungening Aboriginal Corporation. We are
seeing the successful results of that program and we are investing more
money into it. This builds on the work of our Children and Community Services
Amendment Bill, which was recently debated in
this chamber and passed this chamber last week. Although there is still more
work to be done, I welcome the early results from our reforms and
investment. I am proud to be part of a government that will not be distracted
in the hard task of this reform and the work that we do in partnership with the
community sector and Aboriginal-controlled organisations to achieve better
outcomes for vulnerable children and families in Western Australia.
you very much for the question, member. I would like to take the opportunity to
update members on some important work that the McGowan government is doing to
create better outcomes in the child protection system.
Members, it is a sad reality that
Aboriginal children make up 57 per cent of children in care, but it is not a reality
that this government is prepared to accept. Although child safety must always
be our priority, we know that we can make
inroads into reducing the number of Aboriginal children being taken into care.
It is a key measure in the new Closing the Gap targets agreed to by all
jurisdictions. This ambition requires concerted effort, which must be done in
partnership with Aboriginal people, communities and organisations. We are doing
just that, and these efforts are producing results. I am pleased to announce
that Western Australia has now recorded the lowest annual rate of children
coming into care for more than 20 years.
Government members: Hear, hear!
Ms S.F. McGURK : That is
right. For the first time in 20 years, there has been a reduction in the number
of children coming into care. Significantly, the number of Aboriginal children
in care has reduced by nearly one per cent—0.8 per cent—which
is the first reduction since 1996. We credit these promising results to our
commitment to early intervention.
As a government, we have invested a total
of $112.5 million towards early intervention in child protection. One program being delivered is the Aboriginal
in-home support service. For families engaged in that service, between April 2019 and March 2020, 91 per cent of children had been kept safely at home
12 months later—91 per cent. Earlier this year, I was pleased to
announce an $8.8 million investment in the Aboriginal in-home support service, led by Wungening Aboriginal Corporation. We are
seeing the successful results of that program and we are investing more
money into it. This builds on the work of our Children and Community Services
Amendment Bill, which was recently debated in
this chamber and passed this chamber last week. Although there is still more
work to be done, I welcome the early results from our reforms and
investment. I am proud to be part of a government that will not be distracted
in the hard task of this reform and the work that we do in partnership with the
community sector and Aboriginal-controlled organisations to achieve better
outcomes for vulnerable children and families in Western Australia.
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