ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 17 JUNE 2010
Ms GARDINER-BARNES: I am happy to follow that case up and …
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, provide the information and we will follow that up as a matter of urgency.
Ms ANDERSON: My concern, minister, when these matters are raised we can keep following these
things through, but as we speak, as we sit here today and discuss these
major issues, those children
are still in the care. The matter has been reported, it is obvious it has been investigated, but the
mother does not know what is going to happen because no one has been talking to her. She has
been told the DNA is going to take seven months, so the poor child has to wait in the community with
the perpetrator for seven months while this is all being investigated. As of last week, or two weeks
ago, the alleged perpetrator was allowed to still work with children, through MacDonnell Shire, doing
youth activities, youth
programs on that community, and was only given his blue ticket two weeks ago.
Mr VATSKALIS: Considering that the media is here, and the events you actually said might identify
the child, I urge you to come to us privately, and we will follow this up.
Ms ANDERSON: I will
talk to you, but this is the matter you should be aware of, minister. You have
been investigating this matter. As far as the mother is concerned - and I spoke to the mother on the
weekend - she does not know what is going on.
Mr VATSKALIS: We will follow it up straight away.
Ms ANDERSON: At the
end of the day, it is about protection of the children. Yet we put these
children, for whatever reason, back into these communities. How do we know these children will not
be perpetrated by these abusers as we sit here and speak? That is my biggest concern. As the
member for Araluen has said, we have to be about protecting children, making sure children are safe.
If we do not have anywhere to place these children while the investigation is being conducted, I do not
think we should be putting them back into the same environment. This poor child has to walk around
in that community seeing this perpetrator during the day. When she goes to the shop, the perpetrator
is inside the shop. The mental scars we create unintentionally when placing these children back into
communities is terrible. We must be as guilty as the perpetrators for doing that.
If there
needs to be a court case, I think we all need to front it as people who should be looking after
their children. The directors, the minister, myself as a local member, the member for Araluen, the
member for Arafura, we must all be guilty of these crimes because we are putting these children back
into the same environment. It is not protecting this child at all.
Ms GARDINER-BARNES: I am very concerned by the issues you have raised here this morning, and
would like to follow it up as a matter of urgency.
Ms ANDERSON: I will talk to you, minister.
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, speak to Clare and me, give us information and we will follow it up.
Ms ANDERSON: The other question I have, minister, is just about foster carers.
A Person Unknown: That is Output 1.3
Ms CARNEY: Thank you. Following on from the very serious matter the member for Macdonnell has
raised, I hope the minister’s personal assurance to you, member for Macdonnell, is worth more than
his personal assurance in getting back to me.
The child abuse task force in Central Australia, I asked questions about this - and it will be of
particular interest to the member for Macdonnell - at estimates last year. I am talking
Child Abuse
ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 17 JUNE 2010
Task Force, Alice Springs. At that time it only had three child protection workers in it. In last year’s
budget, there was a $6.5m, or thereabouts, allocation for the Child Abuse Task Force. Jenny Scott
gave evidence to the committee saying the department would aim to have at least three additional
positions in the task force in Alice Springs that year.
Document number 834, tabled on Tuesday, clearly shows - and this is where your government
continues to fail - the establishment is four. Last year’s comments were evidently misleading about
the expectation there were going to be more people in the Child Abuse Task Force in Alice Springs.
The actual number was three. There has not been an increase in staff in this critical area, which may
well have been of great assistance, and should be of great assistance to the member for
Macdonnell’s constituents, and for the child in question. Why oh why has there not been an increase
to the Child Abuse Task Force in the southern region.
Mr VATSKALIS: The Child Abuse Task Force South has four Northern Territory police investigators,
two Australian Federal Police
officers, and two child protection practitioners. In addition, Northern
Territory Family and Children Services has a team of four Aboriginal community resource workers,
and a team leader. From July 2010, the new community welfare worker position are to be created in
CAT North, and one supernumerary position will be created in CAT South. That is a number of people
working now with Child Abuse Task Force.
Ms CARNEY: According to a document tabled on Tuesday to this committee, there were three actual
people in the Child Abuse Task Force in the southern region. That is a desperate situation, I would
have thought.
Mr VATSKALIS: The advice
I have - and today is Thursday, two days later than Tuesday - is that
there are - and I repeat again - four Northern Territory police investigators, two Australian Federal
Police officers, and two child protection practitioners …
Ms CARNEY: So, four police and two child practitioners?
Mr VATSKALIS: And two Australian Federal Police officers.
Ms CARNEY: Hang on. Can I just make sure I have you …
Mr VATSKALIS: Four Northern Territory …
Ms CARNEY: Do not worry about the police. Two child protection workers. Correct?
Mr VATSKALIS: Practitioners including the team leader.
Ms CARNEY: Right. Two child protection practitioners in the Child Abuse Task Force in the southern
region is not what the government represented it would provide. It is not in line with evidence to this
committee
last year, and is just not satisfactory, particularly in light of the issues raised by the
member for Macdonnell. Minister, will you commit that, by the time we do this process again in June
next year, there will be more specialist child protection workers in the Child Abuse Task Force in the
southern region?
Mr VATSKALIS: Again, I said before we actually allocated money in the budget - extra money ...
Ms CARNEY: Yes, you did. They are not filled.
Mr CHAIRMAN: The minister has the call.
Mr VATSKALIS: Hold on a minute. These are the things we actually look at. The number of child
sexual abuse cases and the workload in the area will address this issue. Certainly, we see we need