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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 126 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 16 March 2022 by Dr D.J. Honey

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

CHILD PROTECTION — CASEWORKERS

126. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Child Protection:

I refer to comments from the Community and Public Sector Union–Civil Service Association of WA secretary Rikki Hendon in which she states her members have pleaded for manageable case loads and resourcing to deliver the culturally appropriate support children in department care need and are still waiting for the minister to act. Will the minister meet the union's request to deliver 200 additional child protection workers?

Ms S.F. McGURK replied:

I am very happy to speak on this issue because the contribution that this government has made to significantly increase the case-carrying child protection workforce, in fact the whole child protection workforce, since we have been in government has been significant. I am not saying there is not more work to be done. I am not saying child protection workers do not do difficult work or feel under pressure. I also acknowledge that there are vacancies in the system. That is a real challenge, particularly at the moment, over the last couple of years, because of the border settings. Traditionally, child protection has recruited from interstate but particularly from overseas. It is a specified calling and people require certain qualifications to do that work. There have been positions that we have found difficult to fill, and I acknowledge that that has caused pressure in the system, particularly in regional areas where it is really tough to attract and retain staff. And I have been pretty up-front about that with the union. In fact, since coming to office in 2017—I do not know whether this was partly a Dorothy, or whether the member intended it that way —

Dr D.J. Honey interjected.

Ms S.F. McGURK: In any case, I will just enlighten the member. Since coming to office in 2017, the McGowan government has increased caseworker full-time equivalent staff by 28.6 per cent, which is a total of just under 202 FTE. That was from July 2017 to February 2022. From July 2012 to July 2016, the former government increased the FTE by just two per cent, compared with 28.6, which is 13 FTE.

Several members interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order, please!

Ms S.F. McGURK: In fact, over the former government's seven or eight years in office, from 2009 to 2016, it was a 13.6 per cent increase, which is just 78 FTE over seven years. First of all, we are significantly increasing the FTEs, certainly compared with when your lot was in government. We are also reducing the number of children in care, which is quite extraordinary. We are increasing the number of staff but decreasing the number of children in care. I will just go over it again. We have decreased the number of children in care since coming to office by 2.7 per cent. When the Liberal Party was in office, the numbers actually increased. It is extraordinary that the outcomes are so marked in their differences.

I also want to point out the case load average. I pointed this out yesterday, member. In 2015, the average case load was 12.9 per child protection worker. In 2020, it was 9.63. On a whole lot of different metrics, there are improvements.

I have said to the union that I understand the pressures that they are under and I understand that we need to fill the vacancies that are there and retain people—not only attract people, but also retain them—in this difficult and challenging work. I also acknowledge that we continue to have negotiations with Treasury to make sure that the Department of Communities is not punished for its success, so when we have a decrease in the number of children in care we get to retain that money and we get to invest in early intervention, and, importantly, we continue to grow the child protection workforce. On a number of different measures, we understand that this is difficult work, we understand that that workforce requires support and we are absolutely committed to giving it to them.

Several members interjected.

The SPEAKER: Deputy Premier and minister, please do not interject when someone is about to ask a question.