Changes to child protection and family support laws that give children and young people a greater voice and further prioritise their safety have passed State Parliament.
The Children and Young People (Safety and Support) Bill 2024 transforms the child protection and family support system to help improve the lives of children, young people and their families.
The Bill, which with the support of key crossbenchers, provides a whole of government approach to child protection and family support.
It includes a greater emphasis on Aboriginal-led decision making to help address the disproportionate rates of Aboriginal children in care.
The Bill is the culmination of widespread community consultation conducted as part of the review of the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017. Substantial feedback from across the state helped to inform the Bill.
Support for the legislation from the Greens leader Rob Simms MLC and Independent MLC Frank Pangallo paves the way for it to pass the Legislative Council.
A new state strategy will guide agencies and other entities that work with children to improve safety and wellbeing and reduce the risk factors for child abuse and neglect.
Implementation of the legislation, once passed and assented to, will take two years, led by a Department for Child Protection taskforce dedicated to shaping best practice and with key child protection and family support stakeholders engaged throughout.
The Bill includes:
- Privileging the voice of children and young people in decision making.
- A focus on effective intervention and whole of government and community responses to children and families with a public health approach enshrined.
- Prioritising a safety-first approach for the key workers who must decide whether or not to remove a child.
- A principle of Best Interests for children, to be upheld in decision-making.
- Enshrining the full Aboriginal Child Placement Principle and embedding the commitment that it be implemented to the standard of active efforts.
- Privileging Aboriginal-led decision making and self-determination.
- An expansion of family group conferences with a requirement that these should always be convened for Aboriginal families.
- Enshrining commitments to children and carer and birth families.
As put by Katrine Hildyard
Generational reform is hard but crucial if we are to improve the lives of the children and young people who most need our support. That is what this Bill will help deliver.
We know Aboriginal children are better off when decisions about their lives are led by Aboriginal people, and the bill provides a pathway for this. We also know children and young people need to be listened to about decisions impacting their lives and this legislation helps ensure they are.
The feedback and debate around the Bill underpins the Government's commitment to transformational reform and I wholeheartedly thank the many community members, partners, stakeholders, parliamentarians and of course young people for their engagement and feedback on these essential reforms.
As put by Rob Simms MLC
This demonstrates the constructive role that the crossbench plays in our parliament, negotiating important improvements to Government legislation.
In this instance, the Greens have secured some amendments from the Government that strengthen the reunification principle and the importance of keeping families together where possible.
After negotiations between the crossbench and the Government over many months, I consider that this Bill is now worthy of support and represents an improvement on existing legislation.
As put by Frank Pangallo MLC
There are children and families in South Australia facing challenges that most of us are lucky enough never to have to contemplate.
This legislation ensures that there is a whole of government and community response to at-risk children and their families, with a focus on keeping them safe from harm and protecting their rights.
