Poor workforce planning and support for professionals at the frontline of Australia’s child protection system is jeopardising the care of society’s most vulnerable, according to a study instigated by the University of New England (UNE).
Published by the Institute of Child Protection Studies, the study* confirms that demand in the child welfare space is high and growing. But staff in primary prevention – in education, health and community service roles – are ill-equipped or under-qualified to recognise the risk of child abuse and neglect and to provide the necessary support or intervention.
The report found that a concentration of funding and resources at the tertiary end of child protection (focused on investigating and responding to notified cases of suspected child abuse and neglect) means that many vulnerable families are not receiving the early help they need, which might prevent children from being removed from their families.
In 2019-20, 174,700 children received child protection services, which represented a 3.8% increase on 2016-17. Each year, around 3% (or 1 in 32) Australian children aged 0-17 receive support, most commonly for emotional abuse, followed by neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse.
Co-author and social worker Dr Louise Morley, who teaches child protection within UNE’s School of Health, says workforce reform is urgently needed. She described the system as “broken”, with high rates of casualisation and staff turnover threatening child safety and wellbeing.
A crisis or chronic?
“People keep talking about the crisis in child protection, but it’s a chronic, persistent problem,” Dr Morley said. “The system in Australia is appalling – that we don’t have the resources to respond adequately to need, that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are still going into care at alarming rates. We need more at the preventative end to build communities and community resources.”
Personal experience of the system’s shortcomings motivated Dr Morley to contribute to the landmark study. “I used to work as a child sexual assault counsellor in a rural town,” she said. “As a sole practitioner, the demands on my time were overwhelming, and I saw firsthand that vulnerable children and families were not always getting the support they needed.
“It’s a complex and challenging field of practice and it takes a long time to build up your skills. Young social work and psychology graduates going into child protection often burn out quickly. Because of the high rates of casual staff and staff turnover, they commonly take on too much responsibility, too early, without proper grounding or professional development.”
The researchers, who investigated the education of the Australian child welfare workforce and needs within the sector, have recommended greater collaboration between higher education providers and the sector to plan for growing future demand.
With Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children 11 times more likely to be taken into care, and children from culturally diverse families or those with disability over-represented in the system, more specialist support for these groups is badly needed.
A more supportive environment
Dr Morley said the demands on those working in child protection are great. Workers often have to deal with highly sensitive and ethically fraught cases, which require high levels of skill and knowledge. “Most people don’t like to think or talk about child abuse and neglect,” she said. “Looking back, I don’t know how I used to cope with the information that sometimes came across my desk. We need people working in this sector who are capable of ethical decision-making and good practice; who are professional and accountable, but also compassionate and empathetic.
“Improving the workforce is about skilling people and imparting knowledge but also about creating a more supportive environment to talk about these issues. We can criticise systems and blame workers for their practices – that’s what all the Royal Commissions seem to do – but a strong workforce is key. If workers are traumatised and unsupported, they won’t be able to support families.”
The research team now hopes to help develop workforce strategies in partnership with industry and educators to improve the wellbeing of children and families.
“People don’t realise that the decision to remove a child from their family has untold impacts on that child and their family,” Dr Morley said. “Surely there is a better way to support children’s safety and wellbeing.”
The University of New England’s Faculty of Medicine and Health and New England Institute of Healthcare Research Collaborative Research Scheme provided seed funding for this research.
