On Monday 3 August 2026, Deputy Secretary Lauren Dean announced the proposed changes for Phase 3 of the System reform for Child Protection and Permanency (CPP).
You should have received her communications with the related documentation and information. There are also Town Hall meetings being held across the agency for the various streams and teams.
Consultation is now open for three weeks
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøhas been advocating for members to be provided the information since the announcement of Phase 1 as we were concerned that there would be major and significant impacts to CPP staff, which there appears to be.
Up until mid-July, the É«ÀÇÉçÇøwas told no-one knew what the changes to CPP would be. This included the Department making this statement in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.
With the announcement that many CPP staff who have been working in various teams are being returned to frontline Casework, it makes it clear that the Department was oblivious to its own structure and has to continue to “rob Peter to pay Paul” to undertake its statutory responsibility. These changes highlight the serious issues with recruitment and retention of staff. Even with the wage increase for many Caseworkers, the Department of Communities and Justice continues to be unable to recruit and retain staff.
The É«ÀÇÉçÇøhas grave concerns that, with these proposed changes, many CPP staff will leave the Department. This will lead to greater workloads and vacancies, meaning less service and support to children, young people, families and carers.
The Department needs to listen to its staff, take their feedback seriously and give it proper consideration. You are the people performing the work. You are the people caring for children and young people. You are the people supporting families and carers.
Provide all the comments and feedback you can think of to the Department.
In addition, can forward any feedback you send to the Department to us. Please send it toÌýc´Ç³¾mu²Ôi³Ù¾±e²õ@ps²¹.²¹²õn.²¹u and we will include it in our feedback.