NT govt responds to damning report

Chief Minister Paul Henderson has conceded the Northern Territory has one of the
worst child protection records in the country.
In response to the findings of an inquiry into the NT's child protection system -
entitled Growing Them Strong, Together - Mr Henderson on Monday announced $130
million worth of reforms over five years.
He said the current NT Department of Health and Families would be split into two
departments - one for health and the other for child protection.
The inquiry, which on Monday released findings containing 147 recommendations, said
that about 1000 children who were found to be at risk had not received any support.
The report showed the system was overburdened by an enormous and chronic backlog of
investigation cases.
Mr Henderson said case workers would be brought in from New Zealand and interstate
to immediately address the backlog.
In addition to the 76 frontline and support jobs announced in the 2010/11 budget, he
said, an additional 42 new positions would be created to achieve national caseload
benchmarks.
A cross-agency child protection reform steering committee will be formed to ensure
greater transparency and collaboration with non-government agencies and Aboriginal
groups.
Mr Henderson said it was up to the whole community to ensure the recommendations
were implemented.
"Territorians should be challenged by this and step up to the plate with government
to protect children. Let's work together as a community to empower families," he
told reporters in Darwin.
He said child protection was an issue that had been neglected by previous Country
Liberal governments, and that Labor had been reforming the system since it gained
office in late 2001.
Mr Henderson said prevention would be a focus of the measures, adding that the NT
had a unique set of problems.
"The lack of parenting skills among increasingly younger kids; the fact that elders
in the communities are dying; the lack of role models; there is a whole list of
complexities here that don't exist anywhere else," he said.
"The reason we have the level of seriousness in the Northern Territory is because 33
per cent of people are indigenous, the vast majority of whom live in very real
poverty.
"Poverty is the root cause, as is grog, gunga (marijuana) and gambling."
Mr Henderson said the inquiry had resulted in the NT's child protection system being
subjected to the most in-depth, intense scrutiny to date.
He guaranteed Labor would not fail to implement the recommendations of the NT
government's largest ever inquiry.



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