To: The Federal Government
Child Protection in Crisis
We ask that the Federal Government to consider increasing the education supply of trained social workers and psychologists by:
a) Implementing paid placements for social workers and psychologists entering the Child Protection profession
b) Reclassifying Social Work and Psychology course fees down
c) Targeting additional Commonwealth Supported Places towards social work and psychology
d) Providing bursaries to social work students who have a commitment to work in child protection
e) Providing scholarships to Aboriginal social work students with an interest in Statutory Child Protection
Why is this important?
Statutory Child Protection is in crisis. More children are at risk of harm for longer, more children are being put on orders and in out of home care. Most reports and complaints are not looked at and early intervention opportunities are missed until it is too late requiring more damaging interventions. Foster and Out of Home Care options are minimal with many jurisdictions relying on expensive private providers to house children in motels and offices with limited access to wrap around services, placing the development of children at risk. Our state child protection services are buckling due to not enough staffing and the inability to fill case workers and other positions with adequately trained social workers and psychologists. This problem lies across all jurisdictions and requires sustained national action.
How it will be delivered
The petition will be delivered to Ministerial Offices in Canberra