Govt to establish commissioner for children
UPDATED, 1pm: A new position of Commissioner for Children and Young People will be created, the State Government has announced.
The commissioner will be an independent advocate for children and will work to promote their rights and interests.
A Child Development Council with representatives from parents groups and the community will also be established.
The moves come in the wake of the release of the Debelle inquiry into the Education Department’s handling of school sexual abuse.
“The Government has listened to the community,” Minister for Education and Child Development Jennifer Rankine said in a statement.
“We were clearly told – during an extensive consultation last year – that parents, carers and families want a commissioner.
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“The commissioner will be an advocate for children in all sections of Government, whether that is housing, school, child care, social inclusion or the future planning of the State.
“The commissioner will promote awareness of the rights, views and interests of all children and help build links with families in relation to complaints and investigations.
“We are enshrining in legislation the consideration, care and rights of children in every aspect of Government.
“This is about creating a stronger network of advocacy and support for every child.”
South Australia is the last state to establish such a position.
At a later media conference, Rankine revealed that the new commissioner would be unable to investigate complaints from parents and children.
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Rankine said the commissioner would have no formal ability to investigate complaints and would be required to refer any complaints to existing services, including the Ombudsman.
“The commissioner’s role is not to sort through individual complaints, and we have an Ombudsman to do that, we have processes to do that,” Rankine said.
“This is about having someone who understands the needs of children, can advocate, has direct contact with Ministers, and can actually liaise with those investigative agencies here in South Australia.
“We have an Ombudsman in South Australia that has royal commission powers in relation to all aspects of Government departments.
“The commissioner will have the power, the right and responsibility to liaise with all of those agencies and to report on any systemic failures that they identify.”
Parents from the western suburbs school at the centre of a sexual assault case – investigated as part of the Debelle inquiry – would have been able to complain to the commissioner if the role had existed at the time, Rankine said.
“I’m sure that when people have the opportunity to go to someone who’s a direct advocate for children, I’m sure the parents at that western suburbs school would have taken that opportunity.
“What we know is that parents lodged complaints with the Ombudsman. The frustrating thing for parents is they felt is they had a brick wall at every door they knocked on.
“I’m making sure now, in the work that I’m doing, that doors will be open to hear complaints to parents and that they would be considered appropriately.”
The creation of the position was explicitly recommended in the 2003 report on child protection by Robyn Layton QC.
