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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 645 asked in the Legislative Council on 7 September 2021 by Hon Nick Goiran

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

FOSTER CARE REFRESH PROJECT

645. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Child Protection:

I refer to the Foster care refresh project and the actionable items listed in the report, one of which is to develop and publish resources, using a variety of communication platforms, to communicate existing information more clearly on the costs for children in care covered by the Department of Communities and entitlements of children leaving care, including special guardianship orders.

(1) How many special guardianship orders were sought by carers in 2020?

(2) How is the information regarding costs in care covered by Communities currently communicated?

(3) Has anything been done to address the payment inconsistencies cited by carers on page 19 of the report?

(4) If yes to (3), will the minister table the most recent briefing note covering this issue she has received?

Hon SAMANTHA ROWE replied:

I thank the member for some notice of the question. I provide the following answer on behalf of Minister for Child Protection.

(1) In 2020, the Department of Communities submitted 89 applications for special guardianship orders. All applications for SGOs are recorded in the client system as being applications made by Communities.

(2) All details regarding foster care subsidies, clothing allowance, special needs loading and special-purpose funding are detailed in chapter 3.5 ''Subsidies and case management costs'' of the Casework practice manual. The CPM is external facing and able to be accessed by the public. Senior child protection worker placement services have the responsibility of supporting carers and are available in each district. They are able to be contacted by any carer who has queries regarding policy, processes and entitlements in relation to a child in their care. Young people leaving the CEO's care are provided with a copy of their leaving care plan, which details their entitlements post-care. They are also encouraged to download and use the Sortli app, which also records this information. When a special guardian has been granted financial entitlements, such as a continuing subsidy, this is detailed in their court order.

(3)–(4) This action is being progressed as part of the Foster care refresh project, which was tabled in Parliament on 19 August 2021. As a direct action of the Foster care refresh project, Communities is undertaking an interjurisdictional comparative analysis of carer subsidies across Australian and relevant jurisdictions. It is intended that this work will inform the appropriate level of subsidies within the context of a best-practice model of carer support with a focus on carers in remote areas.

The PRESIDENT: Members, both that question and answer are good examples of why we have standing order 105, whereby the question must be concise, and standing order 106, whereby the answer must also be concise. I note the question sometimes necessitates a longer answer, but I remind members to view standing orders 105 and 106 at their earliest convenience.