Thursday 24 May 2018 The Speaker, Ms Hickey, took the Chair at 10 a.m. and read Prayers. STATEMENT BY SPEAKER Official Photograph Madam SPEAKER - Honourable members, we have a photographer present in the public gallery for the purposes of taking the official Chamber photo. QUESTIONS Child Protection - Total Support Services Ms WHITE question to MINISTER for HUMAN SERVICES, Mr JAENSCH [10.03 a.m.] When were you briefed about very serious allegations made about the for-profit provider, Total Support Services, which has been contracted by your department to care for Tasmanian children in out-of-home care? What did you do about these allegations after you were briefed to ensure the safety of these children? ANSWER Madam Speaker, as I have mentioned in here before, I will not comment on the individual circumstances of children or young people or their families in cases of this kind in this place. We know unfortunately that there will always be a need to bring some children into out-of-home care and when we do bring children into care we seek the most appropriate placement for that child's individual needs and circumstances. Many of the children we are referring to have experienced significant trauma in their lives and have a range of complex behavioural health and disability needs that cannot be met in family-based care arrangements. For these individuals specialist providers are used to respond to their individual therapeutic needs. Total Support Services is one of a number of providers used to provide a range of services to children in need. Due diligence processes are undertaken with all providers of out-of-home care services and where concerns are raised regarding a child in care, there are well-established processes to assess those claims and prioritise the safety of those children. Under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act, every adult in Tasmania has a responsibility to take steps to prevent the occurrence or further occurrence of abuse if they suspect, on reasonable grounds that a child is suffering or likely to suffer abuse. I take this opportunity to strongly urge anyone with information regarding an allegation of abuse of a child in care - 1 24 May 2018 Ms WHITE - Point of order, Madam Speaker. I go to standing order 45 and relevance. The question I asked the minister was regarding whether he had taken action once he was briefed on these very serious matters. He has not answered that question. Madam SPEAKER - I will allow the minister to finish his answer. I am sure he is getting to that point. Mr JAENSCH - Madam Speaker, I strongly recommend anyone with information regarding an allegation of abuse in care to report that through the official channels to the child safety notification process so that it can be appropriately responded to and assessed. As I understand, there has been a briefing on some concerns associated with this provider. I understand that full investigations have been undertaken. I believe there are reports of further allegations in the media. Again, I urge anyone who has information relevant to the safety and wellbeing of a child to report to the appropriate authorities without delay. Child Protection - Total Support Services Ms WHITE question to MINISTER for HUMAN SERVICES, Mr JAENSCH [10.07 a.m.] Madam Speaker, the question is again to the minister for child safety services. Mr BARNETT - Point of order, Madam Speaker. All the ministers in this place should be referred to by their correct title. The title referred to is not the correct title. I ask you to draw the member's attention to the correct title. Madam SPEAKER - Could you please do that, Leader of the Opposition? Ms WHITE - Can I ask the minister as to how he would like to be referred. What is the appropriate title by which I am to address you, minister? Mr Jaensch - I am the Minister for Human Services if it is a human services matter. Ms WHITE - Less than two years ago, your department was forced to launch a wide-ranging investigation after for-profit provider, Safe Pathways, was found to have seriously neglected 12 Tasmanian children in its care despite being paid thousands of dollars each week to provide care. Why was another for-profit provider, Total Support Services, subsequently contracted by your department last year which is now at the centre of very serious allegations involving exposing very vulnerable children to inappropriate discipline? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question. As I said in my previous response, in the unfortunate circumstances where children need to be brought into care and where they have special, complex behavioural health and disability needs, specialist providers are used to respond to those cases for a shorter or longer period. There are due diligence processes undertaken with all providers of out-of-home care services. We take great care in ensuring that we are putting 2 24 May 2018 kids in safe hands. We use a range of criteria to assess them and they are well-understood and well- established processes. I do not believe that the for-profit or otherwise business model of those service providers is one of those criteria. Child Protection - Total Support Services Ms O'CONNOR question to MINISTER for HUMAN SERVICES, Mr JAENSCH [10.09 a.m.] Can you confirm the details of an alarming allegation of failures in duty of care of another for- profit provider to which your Government has handed over the care of highly vulnerable children? The allegation made by both a social worker and a departmental source is that Total Support Services is exposing children with disabilities who are on care and protection orders to inappropriate discipline resulting in escalating behaviours that had contributed to the hospitalisation of a teenager in its care. As you know, minister, this follows the scandal surrounding another for-profit provider, Safe Pathways. We now know the former manager of Safe Pathways is working with Total Support Services. In your previous answer you said 'full investigations have been undertaken' - correct me if I have misheard that. What is the result of that investigation? How many vulnerable children are with Total Support Services and why is your department still contracting for-profit providers to care for at-risk young people? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her questions, which started with, 'Can I provide the details of allegations of abuse?' Ms O'Connor - Can you confirm the details. Mr JAENSCH - Can I confirm the details of allegations of abuse of children in care? I can confirm that I have heard reported allegations relating to a provider of care. It has been in the - Ms O'Byrne - You do not have briefing on this? Ms O'Connor - You said there was a briefing; a full investigation had been undertaken. Madam SPEAKER - Order; it is a very serious issue. Mr JAENSCH - media today. What I referred to earlier is that I am advised there has previously been care concerns raised, investigated and dealt with regarding Total Support Services, which did not result in children being removed from their care. I am happy to seek confirmation from my department and to correct that response if it is in error. Today, with media reports of allegations of other cases of abuse or concerns raised, I do not know the details of the cases that have been reported in the media beyond what I have heard in the media. 3 24 May 2018 I urge anyone who has information that goes to the safety and wellbeing of children in care, or whose welfare needs investigation, to provide as much information as they can to the appropriate authorities as soon as possible. The member stood up and asked me to provide details of the reported allegations - Ms O'Connor - Confirm. Mr JAENSCH - I cannot at this point confirm the details of those allegations. I will reiterate I will not be commenting on the details of individual circumstances or investigations in this place. Wages Policy Mr BROOKS question to TREASURER, Mr GUTWEIN [10.13 a.m.] Can the Treasurer please update the House on the Government's wages policy and if he is aware of any alternative policies? Mr O'Byrne - This should be a good bit of fiction. Here we go. ANSWER Madam Speaker, already the puppet masters are pulling the strings. We will see this happen on a few occasions as we work our way through this. I thank the member, Mr Brooks, for his question on this very important issue. We have a few people interested in this as well. Mr O'Byrne - Show them some respect. Why don't you do that? Mr GUTWEIN - From the outset I put on the record my appreciation for the hardworking professional and dedicated public sector in Tasmania. Overall the State Government employs 30 000 people. Mr O'Byrne - They make you say that, don't they. Mr GUTWEIN - Here we go. Mate, you are going to put on a show today because they are here in the gallery, we know that. You are just showing off. The Government's view is that our public servants deserve to be paid well and we do pay them very well, especially in comparison to the private sector. In Tasmania the average wage in the private sector is around $70 000. However, the average wage of public servants is around $110 000 - $40 000 more than the average wage of most other Tasmanians. In the main our public servants do fantastic work and we firmly believe that our hardworking public servants deserve a pay rise.