I am pleased to announce Sonya Pringle-Jones has been appointed as Tasmania’s first Child Advocate and will start in the role on Monday.
Ms Pringle-Jones is well known through her role as Therapeutic Services Program Manager with the Australian Childhood Foundation and has a wealth of experience in child protection and working with vulnerable people.
The wellbeing and safety of all children is of the utmost importance to the Hodgman Liberal Government, and the Child Advocate will provide a greater voice to children in out of home care regarding the quality of and decisions made about their care.
By giving children a voice, we look forward to ensuring we are providing the best possible care and services and protecting them from harm.
The appointment of the Child Advocate is a key response to the Children’s Commissioner’s recommendation to ensure that mechanisms are in place to seek out and listen to the individual voices of children and young people in the out of home care system.
This appointment is in addition to the investment of $1 million over four years in the 2017-18 State Budget for the Commissioner for Children and Young People to provide independent, systemic monitoring of Out of Home Care in Tasmania.
I congratulate Ms Pringle-Jones on this appointment and look forward to her future contributions in helping children in need.