Media stories suggest that the Department of Child Youth and Family is failing to protect our kids.
But Judge Mick Brown's inquiry into the department concluded that we are all responsible for child protection.
"We are responsible for our own children and for those of family members," he wrote. Weare responsible for those we teach, coach and encounter in life. We are responsible for the child in the street and we are responsible for the children we may never see but whose education, health and welfare we contribute to through taxes and donations.
We must value those who work with children, frequently on a shoestring with little support. We need to acknowledge the difficult work that statutory social workers do on our behalf.
An effective child protection system involves cooperation between government departments and community organisations. But there isn't enough money and preventing child abuse has not been a priority for a long time. The department has been systematically run down over the past 16 years.
But it's not just about money. Agencies have trouble cooperating because their roles are poorly defined. For example, there is little clarity in the role of Child Youth and Family in families where children are witnessing violence towards their mothers, but there is substantial overlap between child abuse and partner abuse.
Child Youth and Family is only one of the Government departments involved in child protection. Each department has its own area of responsibility which may not complement the others.
Community agencies have to compete against each other for financing, which does not generate cooperation.
Child Youth and Family has a legal responsibility to promote the reporting of child abuse, but that's only worthwhile if the department can deal effectively with those reports.
The Government has given priority to reducing the number of children who have to wait to see a social worker - the unallocated cases. The political focus needs to change to ensuring that the department can really meet the needs of children and their families who come to its attention.
