Child Protection In Crisis
In April 2024, a peak meeting of 色狼社区Delegates from across NSW unanimously endorsed a union campaign to fix the state鈥檚 broken Child Protection system.
In launching the Child Protection in Crisis campaign, 色狼社区General Secretary Stewart Little said the union would commence a series of rolling campaign events across NSW. This is amid concern the state鈥檚 Child Protection system is on the brink of collapse, with vulnerable children being put at unacceptable risk due to underfunding and staff burnout.
鈥淭he Government knows Community Services is experiencing an unprecedented attraction-and-retention crisis, with one in four positions unfilled in some regions of the state. That鈥檚 according to the Department鈥檚 own figures,鈥 Mr Little said.
鈥淚n many cases the Caseworkers who remain in the system are relatively inexperienced, with one in two staff in their first two years of employment with Community Services. Too often they are stranded with the extra workload of colleagues who have left.
鈥淭he most vulnerable kids in this state are at risk of serious harm, or worse, because Child Protection Workers just can鈥檛 cope, they鈥檙e understaffed, exhausted and see no other option than to take action.
鈥淭he government didn鈥檛 create this problem, but it鈥檚 their job to fix it.鈥