SACOSS is deeply disappointment with the Legislative Council’s decision, made in the early hours of the morning, not to reject the Government’s Children and Young People (Safety) Bill. And we urge the Liberal Party to fix this flawed legislation should they form Government early next year.
Ross Womersley, SACOSS CEO, says, “With an election in March, we urge all parties to bring forward strong policy platforms in this arena and encourage the Liberal Party, should it have the opportunity to form government to commit to a thorough review of this whole area of concern.”
“These are after all some of our most vulnerable children and young people and they merit the state’s most significant interest.”
In the lead up to this vote SACOSS, together with an alliance of other respected key stakeholders including the Law Society of SA and the AMA (SA), repeatedly voiced concerns that the Bill failed to ensure the best interests and wellbeing of South Australian children and young people.
“On the back of this, we worked hard with the Liberal Party, the Greens and other members of the cross-bench to write amendments to address many of the issues identified, and while some improvements were achieved, many were blocked and overlooked by the government.”
“We advised the Opposition and cross-bench MLCs last night that despite their best efforts at negotiation and the inclusion of some desirable amendments, the current legislation was still not an overall improvement on the existing legislation.”
SACOSS does not believe that this legislation will address the overarching, desirable objective of limiting entrance to the child protection system nor will it ensure adequate, let alone great continuing care for any child or young person who needs to be brought into care.
“The overarching objective for any child protection effort in South Australia should be to ensure as few children and young people need ever enter our child protection system. Unfortunately this new legislation completely misses this objective.”
“SACOSS would also like to express our deep appreciation to the Opposition, Greens, Conservatives and other cross bench MLCs for your determination to ensure this critical piece of legislation has been the subject of considered interrogation, review and amendment.”
We also note that the government has promised to introduce some complementary legislation to address early intervention and prevention.
“This must be given top priority, and we urge them to work closely and vigorously with the key stakeholder groups in meeting the desired objectives.”
“We remain hopeful this can give us a fresh start, with real investments in services and activities that intervene early and support families and communities more broadly to provide the best possible care and support for children and young people.”