A brighter future for our families
Kids and parents in our child safety system deserve better, says Marcus Turnbull
RESEARCH from Anglicare highlights much needed improvements for families involved in the Child Safety System.
The report, Rebalancing the Scales – Accessing Justice for Parents in the Child Safety System, provides sensible and achievable recommendations for reform to achieve better outcomes for Tasmanian children.
The number of child safety matters coming before the Magistrates Court in our state has doubled over the five years. The rate of children subject to child safety investigation is now amongst the highest in the country.
To remove a child deemed at risk, an application must be made to the Magistrates Court for a Care and Protection Order. When making an order, the court must consider the importance of protecting the child but also aim to keep them connected to their family. Currently, magistrates must decide these matters under the pressure of busy court lists experiencing significant delays.
It is not that there is a lack of care or goodwill. Government, the magistrates, the department workers, foster carers, lawyers and parents all want an outcome that is in the best interests of the child. The trouble is largely with the under-resourced and antiquated system that these cases must navigate.
The Anglicare report recommends that families who come to the attention of child safety services have early access to legal advice, education, and support, with the hope that such intervention will avoid the need for the court process. The government has recently sought to implement changes to try to achieve this goal.
Families subject to child safety involvement are often affected by poverty, family violence, substance abuse and mental health issues. The court process to deal with cases is slow, complex, and not designed to deal with the difficult issues that these cases involve. The research reveals that parents often feel voiceless in the process and pressured to settle, or else lose their legal representation. The result is delay and dissatisfaction. The relevant Act mandates that cases be finalised in 10 weeks. In practice, they can take many months and sometimes years to reach a final hearing. Busy magistrates must deal with these matters amongst all the others in the over-prescribed court lists.
The Anglicare report calls for specialisation including a dedicated children’s court, appropriately resourced, to deal with matters quickly and effectively. The court should be able to engage experts early in the process to better inform decision making. This may mean a court-based expert to assess the family and the relevant issues.
In the Family Court these experts, called family consultants, provide an indispensable service. The court should be able to adopt more therapeutic models to assist with outcomes as it does in other areas such as with the drug diversion process used in some criminal matters. Duty lawyers to assist unrepresented parties would also be of great assistance to a well-functioning process. A dedicated court is the only means of meeting the legislative requirement of 10 weeks to finalise cases.
The report also calls for proper legal aid funding to be allocated to parents who are engaged in the child safety system. The child’s parents need to be legally aided throughout the entire proceeding. It is to be remembered that child safety matters pitch parents of children being taken into care, against the state. The state can run all matters to trial. Parents often rely on legal aid to fund their representation. Legal Aid will not fund a party where there is no perceived merit to their case. This can often mean that a parent will lose their lawyer for the trial. It leads to parents feeling pressured to settle without a proper inquiry into the case. This results in parents feeling disillusioned and voiceless. More importantly it denies the child that proper inquiry.
Further, when a parent becomes unrepresented, it inevitably leads to delays. This leads all parties, and particularly the children, being left in limbo, worried about who will be caring for them. If the child is in foster care through this delayed process, they may form attachments with their foster family, only to be broken if the child is reunified with a parent. Children need to build their primary attachments, and this can be very difficult when the future is unknown.
The report sets out eight sensible recommendations that need to be seriously considered by the government. This is not a case of needing to rebuild a system. Major legislative change is unnecessary. This is about a change of process and more focused resourcing.
If the changes recommended can be implemented, Tasmania’s most vulnerable children will be far better served than the current process allows. The issues surrounding child safety exist in every jurisdiction. Tasmania has the opportunity to demonstrate the nation’s best practice in this area.
PARENTS OFTEN FEEL VOICELESS AND PRESSURED TO SETTLE, OR LOSE THEIR LEGAL REPRESENTATION ... CHILDREN NEED TO BUILD THEIR PRIMARY ATTACHMENTS, AND THIS CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT WHEN THE FUTURE IS UNKNOWN.