ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 17 JUNE 2010
Ms GARDINER-BARNES: Five. We have eight positions in Central Australia related to child
protection and out-of-home care. There are three professional positions in Katherine related to child
protection and out-of-home care. So, that is a total of 16 professional staff.
Ms CARNEY: Should I be concerned, and should those interested in child protection be concerned,
that out of a promise of 76, there are only 16 new professional staff?
Mr VATSKALIS: From the 76, 64 will be frontline staff, and not all frontline staff has to be
professional. To give you an example, we have actually put (inaudible) health we have six extra
people working in environmental health. Of the six people, two are professionals, university
graduates, and the other will be support staff working in environmental health under the guidance of
the professionals. Not everyone has to be a professional in the front line. Some of them will not be
university qualified but they have other qualifications appropriate to (inaudible) but will be under the
guidance and control of professional people. Clare can expand more on that.
Ms CARNEY: No, thank you. I don’t need that – you have answered that. I am going to invite the
member for Macdonnell to ask a question. But, before doing so, I, and others, I am sure, remain
concerned by what we have seen and by what you have said. Because it is evident the system is in
crisis and has not coped with the professional staff it already has, and I wonder about how it will cope
when you have such a disproportionate number of non-professional staff injected into the system.
Mr VATSKALIS: I know it is not child protection. Let me give you an example. We have made inroads
in health in Indigenous communities by utilising not nurses, because we cannot find them, but by
using Aboriginal Health Workers. Some of this staff will be Aboriginal Child Protection Workers and
that is very important. As the member for Macdonnell said before, I would rather use an Aboriginal
Child Protection Worker than a white fellow working in the clinic who thinks he or she knows the
language and the culture. We are going to employ both professionals, university graduates but, in
order to make inroads in child protection in remote areas and Aboriginal communities, we have and
we should and we will employ properly qualified, Indigenous people, or we will train Indigenous
people to address these issues.
Ms GARDINER-BARNES: We do have a training strategy in place to upgrade para-professionals
who are working, particularly, in remote communities to work towards a diploma level qualification.
So, they have a career pathway which bridges the gap, so that at a point in time they too can become
an authorised officer under the Child Protection Act.
Ms CARNEY: That is good but, I remain, nevertheless, concerned, and let us revisit it next year,
about the lack of expertise in this area so needing of expertise.
Mr CHAIRMAN: Member for Nelson.
Mr WOOD: Is this the same? 1.2?
Mr CHAIRMAN: Yes.
Mr WOOD: I would like to ask a question in 1.4.
Mr CHAIRMAN: Member for Macdonnell, do you have a 1.2 question?
Ms ANDERSON: Yes. Minister, can you clarify for me, in the case I have spoke about, whether the
evidence, because of the department using the wrong interpreter for the nine year-old child, will not
be contaminated?
Mr VATSKALIS: I cannot because I do not have the information yet, but I will invite you during the
ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 17 JUNE 2010
break to provide us with the information and we will investigate it. Without having all the information,
we cannot respond to that. But, again, in about 10 minutes time we have a break, please come and
give us all this information and we will instigate action immediately.
Ms ANDERSON: Another question, minister, have you got any data of interpreters in other cases that
has been used against the child’s first language? So, have you got information about whether
interpreters were used, and maybe the wrong interpreter was used?
Ms GARDINER-BARNES: We do have a project in train at the moment to improve cultural security,
which includes the improved use of interpreter services in remote and other communities across the
Territory. I am not aware if we are able to provide detailed data, but if we are able to I am happy to
provide it to you.
Ms ANDERSON: Thank you. And, minister, just on the training of Indigenous frontline workers on
remote Aboriginal communities, in appointing these people to work in remote Aboriginal communities
have we taken into consideration the sensitivities of certain people working in communities who
cannot report even their own families.
Ms GARDINER-BARNES: Yes, it is a conflict of interest because they are living and breathing and
are family members in their own community. It is a real issue we are aware of in dealing with child
protection matters. Much of the work we are hoping to use the Indigenous workers for is for family
support processes rather than the statutory intervention where a decision is made to remove a child.
In addition, we have in place the Indigenous Practice Advisor to assist in making those complex
decisions.
Mr VATSKALIS: Our position is not to remove children it is how to support families, and I think we are
moving in that direction. Physically remove a child - how to keep the family together is the hard part,
and that is what we are planning to do.
Ms ANDERSON: Minister, on the Torres Strait Islander principle we have, are we as a department
taking the step of looking after the culture rather than the protection of children?
Mr VATSKALIS: The protection of children is paramount. We prefer to keep children with their family,
but only if the children are safe. That applies not only to Indigenous communities; it applies to any
community in the Territory. It does not matter what the culture or ethnic background is, the first thing
we have to think of is the safety of the child. However, it is fundamental a child stays with the family,
and Indigenous families are extended families and there are plenty of people there. However, if we
cannot find a place to put the child in a safe environment we will not place the child. Again, it is
important to support the family, and the extended family, so the child will be safe.
Mr CHAIRMAN: That concludes consideration of Output 1.2.
Output 1.3 - Out of Home Care Services
Mr CHAIRMAN: We will now move to Output 1.3, Out of Home Care Services. Are there any
questions?
Ms CARNEY: None because of time restraints.
Ms ANDERSON: Can the minister confirm foster carers who receive the foster carer allowance are
also able to receive an allowance to cover day care, or babysitting costs, whilst they go to work?
Ms GARDINER-BARNES: Yes, that is correct.
Ms ANDERSON: Can we have some information on how many foster carers receive that, and at what
cost to the department?
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