Child protection support crisis hits Mid West, Geraldton, as office takes stop-work action

More than 40 children and families in the Mid West and Gascoyne do not have a case worker, it has been claimed as child protection and family support workers took strike action in Geraldton on Thursday. More than 30 workers took to the streets to advocate for better conditions, as the union supporting the industry marked another week of action. Employees from the Geraldton and Carnarvon offices joined other districts in taking action, calling for the Department of Communities to act urgently to address a lack of case workers, the surplus in cases and fair pay across the State. In Geraldton, the protesting group took to Cathedral Avenue and Marine Terrace to call for more investment into the industry, while the Carnarvon office closed its doors on Thursday as part of the industrial action. The workers chanted throughout the CBD: “West Aussie kids deserve to be safe, children at risk should not have to wait”, stopping in front of Geraldton MLA Lara Dalton’s office to protest. Members of the Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association have taken action over the last few months, with branches in Albany, the South West and Wheatbelt carrying out stop-work actions in recent weeks. Local union delegate Sarah, who did not wish to be named in full due to the nature of her employment, said the industry in the Mid West was under pressure. “When I started permanently two years ago, I have lost count of the number of staff that have left,” she said. “They’re taking all of their not only local knowledge, their specific skill around child protection and starting careers in other agencies that have better pay or less stress. “It’s very dire when you’re coming in with a caseload and you’re having children, the carers, the parents, looking at you and voicing the frequency in changeover.” According to the CPSU/CSA, the majority of child safety investigations in the Mid West and Gascoyne failed to be completed within the 30-day benchmark, with only 17.8 per cent finishing within that time. On average, it took 120 days for cases to be completed, which the CPSU/CSA said was the second-worst regional average days to finish in the State. Meanwhile, more than 40 children and families were without an allocated case worker. Sarah said the Government should consider it as an investment for the future. “There are more than enough child protection agencies internationally and even some nationally that have taken different approaches, and funded models in workload management, funded the resources, funded specific services for the department to get a better outcome. “The Government needs to recognise this money is an investment, which will save the community money in the future because we’re going to be investing in children. “To have them grow up to be functional and productive, involved members of the community. And we know statistically for children coming to care, they have the obstacles that shouldn’t be there, but they are there because they’re coming into care.”