Child Safety workforce recruitment already underway

Our Child Safety Service is funded for every child in out of home care to have a primary Child Safety Officer, but recruitment and retention remain a challenge.

To address ongoing shortages, our recently released workforce package offers a range of financial incentives to recruit and retain Child Safety, Advice and Referral Line and Youth Justice staff, particularly in the North West region where the need is the greatest.

It will provide significant new payments to current and new employees, some of which have already been implemented and others which depend on the negotiations with unions. 

These include:

• a payment of $10,000 for all eligible allied health professional employees and managers statewide;
• an additional 15 per cent market allowance for North West employees; and
• relocation incentives for employees moving to, and remaining in, the North West region.

The Tasmanian Government last week launched a nationwide recruitment campaign for front-line positions. This is a ramping up of previous recruiting efforts.

We are introducing strategies to build the future child safety workforce pipeline, including scholarships and fee-free places in both University and TasTAFE qualification pathways.

We will continue to work with the Unions in good faith to finalise the components of the package that need to be put to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission as soon as possible.

The Tasmanian Government, under its 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future will continue to develop stronger communities so that Tasmania is the best place to live, work and raise a family.