Second Report on the Inquiry Into Children in Institutional Or Out-Of-Home Care
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The Senate Community Affairs References Committee Protecting vulnerable children: A national challenge Second report on the inquiry into children in institutional or out-of-home care March 2005 © Commonwealth of Australia 2005 ISBN 0 642 71493 2 Senate Community Affairs References Committee Secretariat Mr Elton Humphery (Secretary) Ms Christine McDonald (Principal Research Officer) Ms Geraldine Badham (Principal Research Officer) Mr Peter Short (Senior Research Officer) Ms Leonie Peake (Research Officer) Ms Ingrid Zappe (Executive Assistant) The Senate Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Phone: 02 6277 3515 Fax: 02 6277 5829 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca This document was produced by the Senate Community Affairs References Committee Secretariat and printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra. Any nation that does not care for and protect all of its children does not deserve to be called a nation Nelson Mandela v MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE 40TH PARLIAMENT Members Senator Jan McLucas, Chair (from 29.3.04) ALP, Queensland Senator Steve Hutchins, Chairman (until 29.3.04) ALP, New South Wales Senator Sue Knowles, Deputy Chairman LP, Western Australia Senator Gary Humphries LP, Australian Capital Territory Senator Claire Moore ALP, Queensland Senator Andrew Murray AD, Western Australia (to replace Senator Meg Lees for this inquiry) Participating Members Senator the Hon Eric Abetz LP, Tasmania Senator Lyn Allison AD, Victoria Senator Guy Barnett LP, Tasmania Senator Andrew Bartlett AD, Queensland Senator Mark Bishop ALP, Western Australia Senator Kim Carr ALP, Victoria Senator Grant Chapman LP, South Australia Senator Helen Coonan LP, New South Wales Senator Trish Crossin ALP, Northern Territory Senator Kay Denman ALP, Tasmania Senator Alan Eggleston LP, Western Australia Senator Chris Evans ALP, Western Australia Senator the Hon John Faulkner ALP, New South Wales Senator Alan Ferguson LP, South Australia Senator Jeannie Ferris LP, South Australia Senator Michael Forshaw ALP, New South Wales Senator Brian Greig AD, Western Australia Senator Brian Harradine IND, Tasmania Senator Len Harris PHON, Queensland Senator John Hogg ALP, Queensland Senator Meg Lees APA, South Australia Senator Ross Lightfoot LP, Western Australia Senator Joseph Ludwig ALP, Queensland Senator Julian McGauran NPA, Victoria Senator Sue Mackay ALP, Tasmania Senator Brett Mason LP, Queensland Senator Shayne Murphy IND, Tasmania Senator Kerry Nettle AG, NSW Senator Marise Payne LP, New South Wales Senator John Tierney LP, New South Wales Senator John Watson LP, Tasmania Senator Ruth Webber ALP, Western Australia vi MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE 41ST PARLIAMENT Members Senator Gavin Marshall, Chairman ALP, Victoria Senator Sue Knowles, Deputy Chairman LP, Western Australia Senator Gary Humphries LP, Australian Capital Territory Senator Steve Hutchins ALP, New South Wales Senator Claire Moore ALP, Queensland Senator Andrew Murray AD, Western Australia (to replace Senator Meg Lees for this inquiry) Senator Marshall wishes to record that as a recent appointee to the Committee he did not have the opportunity to participate in the conduct of the inquiry prior to its final stages. Participating Members Senator the Hon Eric Abetz LP, Tasmania Senator Lyn Allison AD, Victoria Senator Guy Barnett LP, Tasmania Senator Andrew Bartlett AD, Queensland Senator Mark Bishop ALP, Western Australia Senator George Campbell ALP, New South Wales Senator Kim Carr ALP, Victoria Senator Grant Chapman LP, South Australia Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck LP, Tasmania Senator Helen Coonan LP, New South Wales Senator Trish Crossin ALP, Northern Territory Senator Kay Denman ALP, Tasmania Senator Alan Eggleston LP, Western Australia Senator Chris Evans ALP, Western Australia Senator the Hon John Faulkner ALP, New South Wales Senator Alan Ferguson LP, South Australia Senator Jeannie Ferris LP, South Australia Senator Michael Forshaw ALP, New South Wales Senator Brian Greig AD, Western Australia Senator Brian Harradine IND, Tasmania Senator Meg Lees APA, South Australia Senator Ross Lightfoot LP, Western Australia Senator Joseph Ludwig ALP, Queensland Senator Julian McGauran NPA, Victoria Senator Sue Mackay ALP, Tasmania Senator Jan McLucas ALP, Queensland Senator Brett Mason LP, Queensland Senator Kerry Nettle AG, NSW Senator Kerry O'Brien ALP, Tasmania Senator Marise Payne LP, New South Wales Senator John Tierney LP, New South Wales Senator John Watson LP, Tasmania Senator Ruth Webber ALP, Western Australia vii TABLE OF CONTENTS MEMBERSHIP OF COMMITTEE ...................................................................................... v RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 1 Terms of reference .................................................................................................. 1 Conduct of Inquiry ................................................................................................. 2 Responses by some Churches and agencies to Forgotten Australians .................. 4 Anglican Church .................................................................................................. 4 Australian Catholic Bishops Conference ............................................................ 5 Benevolent Society .............................................................................................. 6 Uniting Church in Australia ................................................................................ 6 Further information on matters discussed in Forgotten Australians ...................... 7 Legacy homes and repatriation wards ................................................................. 7 Statutes of limitation............................................................................................ 9 Mothers and children in institutional care ........................................................... 9 Recruitment into religious orders ...................................................................... 10 Experimentation on children in care ................................................................. 11 Perspectives of institutional and out-of-home care .............................................. 12 Recent reports on the care and protection of children in out-of-home care ......... 14 NSW - Care and support: final report on child protection services .................. 14 South Australia - Our best investment: A state plan to protect and advance the interests of children ....................................................................... 15 South Australia – Children in State Care: Commission of Inquiry ................... 16 Queensland - Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions ............................ 16 Queensland - Protecting Children: An inquiry into abuse of children in foster care ...................................................................................................... 16 ACT - The rights, interests and well-being of children and young people ....... 17 ACT - The Territory as Parent .......................................................................... 18 Tasmania - Review of claims of abuse from adults in state care as children .... 19 Western Australia - Gordon Inquiry re Family Violence and Child Abuse in Aboriginal Communities .................................................................... 20 Summary ............................................................................................................ 21 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 22 viii CHAPTER 2 CONTEMPORARY FRAMEWORK FOR CHILD PROTECTION – STRUCTURE, SERVICES AND PROCESSES ................................................................. 23 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 23 Legal and government framework for child protection ........................................ 24 Commonwealth's role in child protection .......................................................... 24 Family Law .................................................................................................... 24 International agreements and treaties ............................................................ 26 Funding of programs ...................................................................................... 27 State and Territory child protection ................................................................... 27 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 33 Child protection processes .................................................................................... 34 Notifications, investigations, substantiations, mandatory reporting ................. 34 Number of notifications and substantiations of child abuse .......................... 36 Care and protection orders ................................................................................ 37 Numbers of children on care and protection orders – Australia .................... 38 Mandatory reporting .......................................................................................... 38 Government funding – care and protection of children ...................................