Tania Maxwell says the state government should speed the appointment of an independent monitor to ensure the safety of Victoria’s most vulnerable children following a damning audit of the state’s child protection system.

The Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party Member for Northern Victoria said the Victorian Auditor General’s Office found the information system used by Families, Fairness and Housing – the department responsible for child protection – had effectively failed.

“Report after report shows the department can’t do its job to make sure every child in its care is safe from predatory behaviour, abuse and neglect,” Ms Maxwell said.

“That’s why I’ve championed the need for an independent monitor.

“I moved in Parliament on August 17 for state to make this appointment but, five weeks later, the government wrings its hands and yet another report identifies gaping holes in our child protection management system.

“VAGO’s investigation of the quality of child protection data deemed the department’s data system unfit for purpose and fails to comply with the government’s own data quality standards.

“Data systems are critical to service delivery and the purpose of child protection’s client relationship information system (CRIS) is to store sensitive information about vulnerable Victorian children.

“The audit was unable to reconcile information across DFFH systems about where children in out-of-home care were living.”

Ms Maxwell said the audit identified:

• 171 children living in care without a known address
• 155 instances where DFFH had not updated records following a court decision about a child’s welfare
• gaps in key health information that could result in children missing out on medical care or interventions

“The report also noted that DFFH requires child protection staff and team managers to have 1-2 hours of supervision discussions every fortnight, but this is happening only 58 per cent of the time,” Ms Maxwell said.

“These failings put children directly at risk.

“How can a child protection worker conduct a welfare check without a record of where an at-risk child is living?

“Failing to record court outcomes could put a child at risk of contact with a person against the orders of a court.

“Data should support the activities of child protection workers and help information sharing across service systems.

“The absence of key health information could mean the children’s welfare is not being consistently monitored, or that important medical care or complex health needs are not being met”.

Ms Maxwell said DFFH told VAGO it was aware of the issues and working on a solution.

“But this is the fifth review that has identified issues with the child protection data system since 2009,” she said.

“This is a complete system failure and the government needs to act now.

“It’s no wonder staff are exhausted when they are working against a system all the time, one that is not fit for purpose. This is not good enough when children’s lives are at risk.

“These children’s lives matter and their families matter. That’s why I reiterate my call on the government to appoint an independent monitor to get Victoria’s child protection system back on a firm footing.

“Otherwise these children risk ending up in the justice system, or dead. It’s an appalling statistic, but at least one vulnerable child is dying every week.”