CHILD PROTECTION — PRIORITY 1 CASES
414. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the Leader of the House representing
the Minister for Child Protection:
I
refer to the minister's response to question without notice 330, which
stated that all 17 cases marked as priority 1 for March were commenced
within 24 hours.
(1) Would a caseworker
opening a priority 1 file to review the contents without taking direct action
to investigate the concern qualify as commencement?
(2) If no to (1),
what qualifies as commencement?
(3) Who is
responsible for investigating priority 1 cases?
(4) What oversight regime is
specifically in place for cases marked as priority 1?
(5) Further to (4), who undertakes
this oversight?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The primary focus of child protection workers when
conducting an investigation is the immediate safety of the child.
(1)–(2) The
actions taken within the first 24 hours for priority 1 matters could include
immediate safety planning, notifying the parents, and sighting or interviewing
the child. Professional judgement is used in relation to how this occurs so as
not to increase the risks to the child. Practice guidelines are also used to
determine whether a child safety investigation requires a priority 1 or
priority 2 response.
(3) The child
safety team at the relevant district office is responsible for investigating
priority 1 cases. Some initial action may be commenced by the crisis care unit
if the interaction occurs over a weekend.
(4)–(5) The team leader overseeing the child safety team
is responsible for allocating and ensuring that the priority 1 matter is
investigated. These are flagged to the team leader through the Assist client
system.