The Minns Labor Government is abandoning thousands of children at risk because the state’s child protection system is collapsing under the weight of chronic understaffing.
Recent media reports show that that tens of thousands of children assessed as ‘at risk‑of‑significant‑harm’ (ROSH) have not received timely intervention, or intervention at all.
Shadow Minister for Families and Communities, Natasha Maclaren-Jones, said that this data shows that the Minns Labor Government is failing vulnerable children because it is struggling to retain experienced caseworkers and meet statutory response times and responsibilities.
“The Minister responsible for protecting vulnerable children is presiding over a system where capacity, not risk, determines whether a child is seen,” Mrs Maclaren-Jones said.
“Our child protection caseworkers are doing their best under impossible circumstances and chronic understaffing, they should never have to choose which children get help and which do not.”
“With a vacancy rate of 14% in some areas and chronic understaffing, the Minns Labor Government is effectively abandoning thousands of children at risk with no home visit, no assessment and no follow‑up.”
Independent audits have shown thousands of ROSH reports remain unallocated, meaning no action is taken to assess or support vulnerable children.
The Government has been given repeated warnings from frontline workers and no action has been taken.
“Caseworkers are being set up to fail, and the Minister is doing nothing,” Mrs Maclaren-Jones said.
“They are being asked to make life‑and‑death decisions in a system the NSW Ombudsman has called ‘inefficient, ineffective, and unsustainable’.”
The NSW Liberals and Nationals are calling for a parliamentary inquiry to examine the under‑resourcing of the child protection system.
“There must be a parliamentary inquiry into the under‑resourcing of the child protection system, including the backlog of unallocated ROSH reports and the government’s compliance with statutory obligations,” Mrs Mclaren-Jones said.
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