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Child protection

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
‘Unsafe and unsustainable’CommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
Workers could strike over child protection staffing crisis

The union which represents WA child protection workers is threatening industrial action over what it says is ‘chronic understaffing’ in the Department of Communities.

Annabel Hennessy

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
Damning documents Premium
The West Australian exclusive
How WA’s most vulnerable children are being badly let down

Leaked documents have exposed how the WA Department of Communities is failing to meet crucial targets including those relating to child safety investigations.

Annabel Hennessy

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
InactionPremium
The West Australian exclusive
How Dept of Communities racism response went nowhere

The WA Department of Communities had planned to create a senior working group to respond to a report which exposed ‘wide scale and endemic’ racism within the organisation - but never followed through.

Annabel Hennessy

Bombshell reportPremiumDoctor slams Dept of Communities over ‘racism’ inaction

The psychologist who authored a damning report which warned of ‘endemic racism’ within the Department of Communities says she is ‘gravely concerned’ her recommendations for change have not been implemented.

Annabel Hennessy

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
Bombshell findings Premium
The West Australian exclusive
Secret reports claim WA child protection system is 'racist’

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: The WA government department responsible for the State’s most vulnerable children is plagued by ‘wide scale and endemic racism within the organisation’ - damning internal documents claim.

Annabel Hennessy

National shamePremiumGovernment committed to ending violence against women

The Federal Government is making a long-term commitment to end violence against women and children in Australia — by putting a focus on prevention, intervention, response and recovery.

Kimberley Caines

‘Shocked and appalled’PremiumGo-kart predator banned from track after sick act

The self-confessed ‘predator’ kart racing coach caught soliciting explicit photographs from an underage girl has finally been barred from the track.

Brianna Dugan

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
Disturbing allegations Premium
The West Australian exclusive
‘Predator’ go-kart coach allowed to stay in sport

A self-confessed ‘predator’ go-kart racing coach caught asking a 14-year-old girl for ‘cheeky’ photos has been allowed by the sport’s governing body to continue mixing with minors at events.

Brianna Dugan

mystery disappearancesPremiumFive other cases that shocked the world

Sadly the case of Cleo Smith is not the first time a child’s disappearance has left people desperately hoping for good news but fearing the worst.

Missing kidsPremiumWhereabouts of a dozen kids in care unknown

There are 12 children in State care whose whereabouts are currently unknown, it has been revealed.

Briana Fiore

Eat upCommentsPremiumEnding Aussie child hunger — one breakfast at a time

A worryingly high number of Australian children miss out on the most important meal of the day. But help is at hand.

Charlotte Elton

road safetyLasting legacy for baby killed in driveway tragedy

The tragic death of a nineteen-month-old girl, killed by her mother’s reversing car on their home’s driveway, is hoped to be turned into a lasting road-safety legacy for WA families.

Michael Traill & Kate Massey

Child’s VoiceCommentsTelethon gives ‘thoughtful’ lessons to traumatised kids

Telethon is funding an innovative research project encouraging WA schools to take a “thoughtful” approach to traumatised kids.

Charlotte Elton

Justice reformCommentsPremiumWA Labor backs raising age of criminal responsibility

Labor has passed a motion to raise the age of criminality above 10 at the party’s State conference today.

Sarah Steger

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
Juvenile justiceCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
Labor push to raise age of criminal responsibility

WA Labor will debate whether to raise from 10 to 14 the minimum age children can be prosecuted for a crime and jailed at the party’s State conference this weekend.

Annabel Hennessy

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
urgent surgeryPremium
The West Australian exclusive
The shocking scale of child choking emergencies

Over 80 per cent of kids who had emergency surgery for a blocked airway at Perth Children’s Hospital were found to be choking on a nut or a piece of raw carrot fed to them by a parent or other adult.

Angela Pownall

tragic readingPremiumShocking report exposes homeless related child deaths

Homelessness was a factor in more than one in five of the ‘investigable’ child deaths that occurred in WA over the past 12 years.

Annabel Hennessy

Minister’s pledgeCommentsPremiumBombshell child sex assault report spurs WA change

Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk has pledged to protect children from sexual abuse by fellow youths in State care — but warned that isolating a dangerous child is a ‘very difficult’ call.

Charlotte Elton

disturbing revelationsPremiumDamning report calls for State care overhaul

A boy in Department of Communities care ‘repeatedly’ told staff he was worried about his sexual urges towards younger children but little was done before he allegedly sexually abused another child.

Charlotte Elton

Terrifying invasionCommentsPremiumHow creepy abusers are bugging kids’ toys with spyware

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the use of secret surveillance devices hidden in children’s toys to spy on them was an increasingly alarming problem.

Sarah ison

Homeless mums-to-beCommentsPremiumNo fixed address for 100 South West pregnant women

Service providers and not-for-profits estimate there are more than 100 pregnant women struggling to find a place in the South West as the number of rentals and public housing continue to dry up.

Kasper Johansen

Healing journeyCommentsPremiumGrace Tame delivers inspirational message to Perth

Child abuse survivor and 2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, gave an insight into the constant battles she faces when she addressed the Business Chicks event at Crown Perth today.

Jessie Stoelwinder

Costly missPremiumPerth childcare centre fined after 3yo escapes ‘unseen’

A Mirrabooka childcare centre has been fined after a three-year-old boy broke out before wandering through a busy carpark alone to a nearby pharmacy, with the child missing for at least 15 minutes.

Shannon Hampton

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
‘Incredibly disappointing’CommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
Taxpayers foot child abuse bill after royal failure

A charity run by Prince Charles has failed to sign up the Redress scheme, meaning the Federal and WA governments have been forced to foot the bill to compensate sexual abuse survivors.

Annabel Hennessy