A step forward towards strengthening oversight of Victoria’s child protection and youth justice system was taken on Tuesday, as the Andrews government introduced changes in legislation, including new powers to Victoria’s Commissioner for Children and Young People.
The new legislation is set to bind future governments to providing heightened levels of information to the commission, ensuring transparency and effectiveness, as it will require the Department of Health and Human Services to provide the commission with reports of serious incidents involving a child or young person in out-of-home care, detained in a youth justice facility or in a youth justice residential centre.
“The Commission for Children and Young People provides crucial independent monitoring and advocacy for some of our most vulnerable young Victorians,” said Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos in her announcement of the new legislation, which will help the commission achieve better results in its task of promoting the safety and wellbeing of children in Victoria, particularly those in out-of-home care and the youth justice system.
Among the incidents that will be better addressed through these changes are allegations of physical and sexual assault, illness and accidental injuries requiring hospitalisation, and serious behavioural issues that impact on client or others’ safety.
“All Victorian young people deserve to be safe from harm, no matter where they live,” said the minister, explaining the government’s decision. “When we came to government we saw more needed to be done. Strengthening the commission’s oversight function through legislation will bind future governments to greater independent scrutiny.”
Furthermore, Jenny Mikakos described a new course of measures set out, as part of the government commitment to ensuring the safety of children, such as the imposition of new child safe standards to help organisations drive cultural change so that protecting children from abuse is embedded in everyday thinking and practice for all organisations working with children.
On top of that, a whole-of-government strategy will be devised to keep children safe from sexual exploitation, including initiatives in education, child protection, police and child and family welfare. For this purpose, the government announced that 148 new child protection workers will be recruited to strengthen supports for children at risk.
