Information Awareness
Child Protection Reform Amendment Act Implementation
Background
•The Queensland Government is building a new child protection and family support system through its Supporting Families Changing Futures reform program.
•Underpinning the new child protection and family support system will be contemporary legislation to reflect the role of parents, families, communities, government agencies, non-government organisations and the private sector in supporting Queensland children and families, now and into the future.
•Based on the recommendations of the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry, the department has undertaken a comprehensive review of the Child Protection Act 1999.
•The Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2017 was passed by the Queensland Parliament in October 2017 and received assent in November 2017.
•A staged approach is being taken to the commencement of these legislative changes.
•On 29 January 2018, some of the changes commenced operation to allow the department to provide more information to:
- people who are, or have been, living in out-of-home care
- a parent or guardian, if a deceased child was subject to a child protection order
- the police, if an investigation is being conducted following a child’s death
- child welfare authorities in other jurisdictions to respond to child protection concerns.
- As part of these changes, the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women introduced the Time in Care Information Access Service to provide more detailed information to people who are, or have been, in care, including h a Time in Care Report, their birth certificate, school reports and medical reports.
•To find out more about this service, email . In the first instance, young people in care, or transitioning from care, should contact their Child Safety Officer about accessing information.
What’s changing?
The Queensland Government is committed to building a new child protection and family support system that meets the needs of children and families, now and into the future. For this system to be effective, it requires a rigorous, contemporary legislative framework.
The Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2017 aims to:
- promote positive long-term outcomes for children in the child protection system through timely decision-making and decisive action towards either reunification with family or alternative long-term care
- promote the safe care and connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with their families, communities and cultures
- provide a contemporary information sharing regime for the child protection and family support system, which is focused on children’s safety and wellbeing, and
- support the implementation of other key reforms under the Supporting Families Changing Futures program and address identified legislative issues.
- This requires the system to embrace the paramount principle of safety, wellbeing and best interests of a child both through childhood and for the rest of the child’s life.
- To improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, the changes place greater emphasis on the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to self-determination, and provide flexibility in how they participate in decision-making, particularly in relation to cultural decisions the keep Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people connected to their family, community and culture.
Safe Care and Connection
Intent of changes
To recognise the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the importance of ensuring the connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people with their family, community and culture.
What does it mean for the Department, Partners and Services?
We have a responsibility within the department and across agencies to build our collective cultural capability and understanding. Building on our relationships with families, communities, organisations and individuals, we need to ensure that the way we work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people keeps them connected to their cultural heritage, their family, their community and country.
A focus on culturally sound decision-making across the child protection system.
What does this require of the Department, Partners and Services?
•To understand your responsibilities in administering the Act and consider how to incorporate the five elements of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (Prevention, Participation, Partnership, Placement, Connection) in your work.
•Continually building and applying cultural capability and working in a collaborative and respectful manner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities.
•An understanding of how to support self-determination and ensure we are engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and organisations to achieve this.
•Every individual to consider how to advocate for the importance of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle and active efforts (affirmative, active, thorough, and timely efforts intended primarily to maintain and reunite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with their families).
Permanency
Intent of changes
To promote positive long-term outcomes for children and young people in the child protection system through timely decision-making and decisive action toward either reunification with family and alternative long-term care, as well as support for young people who have left care up to 25 years old.
What does it mean for the Department, Partners and Services?
Whether you are a departmental officer, a service provider, or working in the court system, from the moment a child or young person comes into contact with the child protection system we will need to think about how each decision we make will impact on their life, both in the short and long-term.
A collaborative and consistent approach that builds the foundations to support and enable decisions that will achieve relational, physical and legal permanency.
What does this require of the Department, Partners and Services?
•All elements of the service system support and enable good decisions that will lead to greater permanency outcomes for children and young people.
•For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people it also means ensuring their connection to family, community and culture.
•A service system that supports concurrent permanency planning.
•For example, what are the opportunities to strengthen the service system and permanency planning, policy, procedures, practice and investment decisions to achieve more timely long-term outcomes for children and young people?
Information Sharing
Intent of changes
To provide a contemporary information-sharing regime for the child protection and family support system which is focused on the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.
What does it mean for the Department, Partners and Services?
•The provisions regarding information sharing have been clarified and simplified, meaning it is now easier to decide when it is appropriate to share information and what information can be shared to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and young people known to the child protection system.
•An Information sharing guideline will be published externally to provide guidance across the system.
•Services providing support to a family will be able to share information with each other in the event the family moves from one part of the state to another.
•It also means that a service that was previously working with the family to provide preventative support will be able to share information with another service which begins to work with a family because the child is now in need of protection.
What does this require of the Department, Partners and Services?
To continue to make decisions around when it is appropriate to share relevant information (including information about unborn children) that considers the safety, wellbeing and best interests of children and young people.
Other Key Reforms
Intent of changes
To support the implementation of other key reforms under the Supporting Families Changing Futures program and address identified legislative issues.
What does it mean for the Department, Partners and Services?
•Clarifies the chief executive’s responsibility to plan for and to make available support and assistance, to assist a young person to transition from care, including ensuring help is available to assist a young person in their transition up to 25 years of age.
•Confirms a temporary custody order can be applied for to provide for the immediate safety of a child, while the Director of Child Protection Litigation considers whether or not they will apply for an order.
•Includes vaccinations as a medical treatment under the existing Act provisions.
•Extends the prohibition against publishing identifying information about a child who is reasonably likely to be a witness in criminal proceeding related to an offence of a sexual or violent nature.
•Provides clarification that the provisions of the Act enable a child abduction alert.
•Clarifies when an Intervention with Parental Agreement is appropriate and requires the case plan to include details of expectations of parents and the chief executive in achieving intervention goals.
What does this require of the Department, Partners and Services?
•Requires transition to independence planning to commence for a child in care from the age of 15 years, and for the chief executive to ensure help is available to assist young people in their transition from care to independence up to the age of 25 years.
•Allows the chief executive to ensure the immediate safety of a child and work with the litigation director to consider the changing circumstances and determine the best course of action while the temporary custody order is in place.
•Allows that in situations where vaccination is sought to comply with a routine vaccination schedule or in an emergency situation, the department will be able to seek vaccination in the absence of parental consent, even if parents retain guardianship.
•Prohibits the publication of identifying information about a child who is or is reasonably likely to be a witness in a criminal proceeding for an offence of a sexual or violent nature in a report of the proceeding, unless the court expressly authorises the publication to include the information.
•Police may use confidential information to perform his or her functions as a police officer, for example, if a child abduction alert or Amber Alert is issued in relation to a child in foster care, the Act will not be breached.
•Identifies that an Intervention with Parental Agreement can only be considered if the child will not be placed at immediate risk of harm if the child’s parent/s withdraw their agreement and requires the case plan to clearly outline the agreed actions of the parents and the chief executive.
Prompters for Readiness…
To ensure your organisation is in a good position to deliver on the intent of the legislative amendments, here are some prompters to help:
•How well do you and your team understand the legislative changes and their importance?
•What impacts will the legislative changes have for your agency?
•How well do you understand who and what in your agency will be impacted?
•How well positioned is your agency to absorb all the changes and what are risks?
•What partnerships do you have in place to action these objectives?
•How will executives and leaders in your agency be briefed about the changes?
•How will you work with colleagues to communicate changes to staff?
•How will policies and practices be reviewed and updated?
Resources and Contacts…
For more information about the changes to the child protection legislation, go to the Child Safety website .
For any questions about the implementation of the Amendment Act, call the Child Protection Reform Amendment Act unit on (07) 3238 7689 or email:.