In Parliament today I tabled a copy of the Government’s response to the Coroner’s recommendations on the death of Bjay Johnstone in 2012.
The Tasmanian Government accepts all 18 of the Coroner’s recommendations to improve our Child Protection System and services, and all recommendations have either been completed or are in the process of being actioned - including those involving Tasmania Police.
As has also been noted by the Coroner, frontline child safety officers work in an incredibly difficult and challenging field. Such deaths, when they do occur, place an enormous emotional toll on the staff directly connected or associated with this work.
Significant system and practice improvements have been undertaken by the Hodgman Government to better safeguard vulnerable children since 2014, and are continuing to occur via the Strong Families, Safe Kids project or through other processes.
Labor should hang their heads in shame that this tragedy occurred on their watch and must take responsibility for it.
In the years and months preceding this tragedy, there were 13 reports and over 600 recommendations into a failing child protection system which Labor ignored.
As the Coroner stated:
“The unfortunate fact remains that, in Bjay’s case, there were extensive failings. Those failings reflect, in my view, entrenched systemic and cultural deficiencies in the context of inadequate resourcing”.
The Coroner, in her recommendations, also refers to the risk factors posed to a child by the parental use of cannabis. In light of this, the opposition should rethink their position on drug decriminalisation.
While there is always more that can be done to ensure continuous improvement in the protection of vulnerable children and supporting families, the Hodgman Government has a clear Plan for tackling issues in the child protection system - a Plan that the outgoing Commissioner for Children and Young People himself has praised and has called on all sides of politics to support. It is time Labor embraced the redesign of child protection instead of playing politics with children’s lives just like they did in government.
For a copy of the report go to: dhhs.tas.gov.au/news/2017/government_response.