In light of the damning report by Justice James Wood about the many failings of the Department of Community Services under the management of successive junior Labor Ministers, the NSW Liberal/National Coalition is demanding to know why more positive results have not been achieved after five years of record funding.

NSW Shadow Minister for Community Services, Katrina Hodgkinson said that in the 2006/07 DoCS Annual Report former Director General Shepherd proudly proclaimed that the department had received 70% or 840 million of the 1.2 billion by 30 June 2007.

“I have concerns about Justice Wood’s statement that insufficient time has passed for many of the benefits to be fully evident,” Katrina Hodgkinson said.

“DoCS has had a major portion of the funding for at least 17 months and for up to five years,” Katrina Hodgkinson said.

“Yet Justice Wood found massive systemic problems that reveal a department bound in bureaucracy and unable to improve because of a reactionary culture resistant to reform.”

“To their eternal discredit, despite years of warning signs, State Labor has put a revolving door of successive junior Ministers in charge of this challenging portfolio,” Katrina Hodgkinson said.

“These junior Ministers have not had the leadership or management skills to take on the DoCS bureaucracy and so they have failed to make an impact and as a result the number of ‘at risk’ children known to DoCS who die has been increasing year by year and the department has lurched from one crisis to another.

Katrina Hodgkinson said that Justice Wood in his report found many serious concerns, which include:

Only 13% of calls to the Helpline assessed as needing follow-up resulting in a home visit;

Twenty one percent of calls to the Helpline assessed as needing follow-up resulting in no action;

Inconsistent implementation of workplace practices;

Insufficient early intervention services;

Non-governmental and Aboriginal organisations not being sufficiently developed;

Aboriginal communities being over represented in the child protection system;

DoCS not presenting fair and balanced evidence in Courts;

Poor interdepartmental communications and feedback about individual cases;

Out-of-Home care children not receiving adequate medical, dental and allied health treatment; and

A duplicative, unduly complex and administratively burdensome funding system.

 “Unfortunately Justice Wood’s findings are not new news,” Katrina Hodgkinson said.

“We have heard it all before in reports by the NSW Ombudsman, in complaints by Non Government organisations such as Out of Home Care providers, Foster Carer Support Organisations, Preschools and by DoCS whistle blowers.

“The people of NSW will now have to wait for another four months before we see the response of the NSW Labor government to Justice Wood’s Report,” Katrina Hodgkinson said.

“State Labor has blown at least 840 million and have had at least several years to provide results, but they have come up empty handed.

The results of Justice Wood’s Report show that the rest of the $1.2 billion is just as likely to be wasted as the first 70%,” Katrina Hodgkinson said.

“State Labor should immediately appoint a senior ‘head kicking’ Minister to DoCS to push through the reforms that Justice Wood has recommended,” Katrina Hodgkinson said.