Jacquie Petrusma

Jacquie Petrusma MP
Shadow Minister for Children
Thursday 22 September, 2011

Today's Auditor-General's report has once again confirmed that under a Green-Labor Government, Tasmanian children are continuing to fall between the cracks.

The Children in Out of Home Care report has shown that the Government is continuing to make the same mistakes over and over again with frontline services suffering as a result.

It is clear that despite 11 reports, 400 recommendations, and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, the Government still doesn't get it.

The report raises serious questions about the safety of Tasmanian children living in out of home care, with findings showing that visit requirements to children are not being met, 36-61 per cent of investigations are not commenced within the Department's required timeframes, and foster carers are not receiving the support they require.

The report has also confirmed that despite a previous $500,000 KPMG report into out of home care, little evidence was found that recommendations had been implemented.

Tasmanians are well aware of the tight budget situation facing the state, but many of the recommendations, such as to accurately record the number and frequency of visits to carers and children, and that every young person over the age of 15 has a leaving care plan, don't require big dollars to implement - just the will of the Government.

It is time that the Green-Labor Government started listening to these recommendations, so that vulnerable children can receive the support they need