A scathing report has found the NSW government is failing to meet any of its child protection responsibilities, with children cycling through temporary and emergency accommodation and the department not properly responding to serious allegations of abuse.
The NSW Ombudsman’s report, which has been labelled as “horrifying” by child welfare advocates, is the fourth damning report in as many months into the Department of Communities and Justice’s child protection services.
The Ombudsman found 75 per cent of children reported to be at risk of harm were not visited by a caseworker, prompting the watchdog to launch a maladministration investigation into the department’s response to these reports.
Department staff screen risk-of-harm reports to determine whether they meet a threshold of “significant harm”, which includes allegations of sexual abuse, serious physical abuse or serious neglect.
Just a quarter of children reported as at risk of significant harm received a face-to-face visit by a caseworker in 2022-23, down from 29 per cent in 2017-18, the Ombudsman found. Aboriginal children were four times more likely to be involved in risk of significant harm reports as non-Aboriginal children.
The report also found that one in three children had a substantiated allegation of abuse while in residential care.
The Ombudsman’s report, tabled in state parliament earlier this month, concluded that the department had failed to meet any of its core responsibilities of responding to harm reports, securing safe and permanent homes, and intervening early to prevent risk escalation.
The outcomes of the Ombudsman’s maladministration investigation will be presented to Washington and the department head. If steps are not taken to rectify the potential maladministration, the Ombudsman can make a follow-up report to parliament and require the minister to provide a public explanation.
Source: 12ft