The Hodgman Liberal Government takes the issue of the protection of our most vulnerable very seriously.
Today, consistent with the Government’s policy of openness and transparency, I published online the results of a Right to Information decision relating to correspondence between my office, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of the Department in relation to unassessed child protection notifications in the North-West between July 27 and August 18, 2015.
As I have said numerous times, I was first advised and an information brief was received in my office on Monday August 17. The RTI confirms this.
The RTI also confirms that my office was first alerted to an issue on the North-West the week before, as I have said all along.
This RTI should now put a stop to the Opposition’s false claim that I was aware of the unassessed notifications prior to August 17.
The Government is now focussed on redesigning our child protection system to do all we can to ensure this situation doesn’t occur again.
Jacquie Petrusma, Minister for Human Services
