Confidentiality in child protection cases Who benefits?

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth ◽  
Patricia Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
Children's Court ◽  
Court Proceedings ◽  
Children’S Court ◽  
Many Sources

Child protection legislation in every Australian state and territory prohibits the disclosure of the identity of a person who acts as a mandatory reporter. There is also provision in most child protection legislation that prevents the naming of children and families in protection cases. It is argued that disclosure is not in the interests of the child, the family or the general public. Children's Court proceedings in most states and territories in Australia are closed to the public so that, unlike in most other jurisdictions, interested parties are not able to observe the proceedings. Child protection authorities also have considerable power to collect information about children and families from many sources. This power to obtain information is compounded by legislation which removes confidentiality provisions from professional codes of ethics. Furthermore, the rules of evidence do not ordinarily apply in the Children's Court. This article uses New South Wales as the exemplar state and raises questions about all of these issues.

Rescission or Variation of Children's Court Orders: A Study of Section 90 Applications in New South Wales

2012 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Hansen
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Parental Responsibility ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Court Orders ◽  
Children's Court ◽  
Children’S Court

This article reports on a study of Children's Court files relating to completed applications for variation of care orders (section 90 applications) in three specialised Children's Courts in New South Wales. All files that could be located for completed applications were reviewed and nonidentifying data was recorded. The study attempted to examine the type of applications, the characteristics of applicants and the outcomes of the applications. One hundred and seventeen applications were reviewed: almost half of these were made by the then Department of Community Services (DoCS), and about the same proportion of applications were made by parents. After the section 90 applications were determined there was an increase in care orders allocating parental responsibility to the Minister for Community Services with 73% of the children placed under the care of the minister to age 18.

scholarly journals ‘“problem” children of this community’: Christ Church St Laurence and the Children’s Court, Sydney, 1936-41

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-98
Author(s):  
Patricia Curthoys
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Delinquency ◽  
Inner City ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Anglican Church ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Christ Church ◽  
Children's Court ◽  
Children’S Court

This article seeks to explore the experiences of those boys who, in late 1930s/ early 1940s Sydney, were considered, by the courts and the churches, amongst others, to be 'the "problem" children of this community'. The sources for this exploration are the records of the Metropolitan Children's Court, Surry Hills and the Christ Church St Laurence Boys' Welfare Bureau. Children's courts were established in New South Wales in 1905. From 1934 onwards all metropolitan cases were heard at Surry Hills. The Boys' Welfare Bureau was established in April 1936 by Christ Church St Laurence, an Anglican church situated near Central Railway Station, Sydney. The records of the Bureau and the Court provide insights into the ways in which both religion and the law attempted to shape the lived experience of these boys, in inner city Sydney, within the context of current ideas about juvenile delinquency and its treatment.

Personalised Budgets: What Is the Future for Child Protection?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Plath ◽  
Ann Dadich ◽  
Susan Evans ◽  
Kenny D Lawson ◽  
Brian Stout
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Potential Benefits

Abstract As the Australian state of New South Wales considers the adoption of a policy of personalised budgets in child protection, questions arise regarding how such a policy could take shape and how it would impact service delivery to promote safety and well-being amongst vulnerable children. This article presents findings from a mixed-method, realist evaluation of a pilot programme that adopted some of the features of personalised budgets, namely, personalisation, brokerage and keyworkers. Drawing on literature on personalised budgets in disability and aged care, the article highlights the features, potential benefits and challenges of personalised budgets in child protection. It concludes by arguing for a better understanding of how personalised budgets could benefit vulnerable children. This might involve: defining the roles of brokers and keyworkers, developing ways to increase service user engagement, clarifying implications for the wider service sector and planning for the provision of required supports and services for children and families.

Establishing Adoption as a Route Out of Care in New South Wales: A Commentary

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth ◽  
Patricia Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Open Adoption ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Us ◽  
Realistic Possibility ◽  
Children's Court ◽  
Children’S Court

Over the last 25 years (1990–2015), the number of adoptions of children (and young persons) in Australia declined from 1,142 to 292 (25.5 %). Of the 292 adoptions that took place in 2014–15, 83 (28%) were inter country adoptions, with the remaining 209 (72 %) adoptions of Australian children. Very few of the adoptions of Australian children were in New South Wales. In amendments in 2014 to the New South Wales Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 and the Adoptions Act 2000, a new emphasis on ‘open’ adoption was introduced. The focus of these amendments is on adoption of children who are in foster care where the New South Wales Children's Court has ruled that there is no realistic possibility of restoration of the child to parental care. This article is about the implementation of this new legislative emphasis on adoption. It does not examine the benefit or otherwise of adoption for children who cannot be safely restored to parental care as this issue has been extensively canvassed elsewhere. This article also highlights the US and English experience of adoption from care in order to place the New South Wales development in perspective. The article concludes with discussion of the issues adoption raises for the parents of a child who is being considered for adoption from care.

scholarly journals THE CHOICE BETWEEN ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE AS CHILD PROTECTION RESPONSES

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Gay
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Outcomes For Children

Child protection systems in Australia are struggling to cope with the growing number of children requiring out-of-home care because of abuse or neglect occurring within families. Professionals and governments are grappling with the alternative care options that are available in an attempt to improve children’s health, education and emotional development. Research demonstrates that children suffer if they are exposed to multiple placements throughout childhood and this leads some to believe that the permanency of adoption would better serve the needs of children from broken families. This article considers the recent proposal by the South Australian State Coroner to expand the role of adoption as a child protection response, noting that New South Wales introduced such a model in 2014. It also examines international approaches in this area as well as the findings of studies into foster care and adoption. By drawing together the knowledge gained from different policy and practice approaches to out-of-home care, this article argues that introducing a blanket approach favouring adoption is not an appropriate option. It concludes that the only model likely to achieve the best outcomes for children is one involving individual responses to every child.

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