Wednesday 07 August 2024
Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association (CPSU/CSA) members at the Cannington and Binjareb (Peel) Child Protection and Family Support (CPFS) offices have continued rolling action in the agency today, closing the doors to members of the public and calling on Premier Roger Cook to urgently intervene in the struggling system.
Emergency protocols are again in place at locked offices to ensure access can be provided in emergency situations.
This is the second action by Western Australian Child Protection workers in a week, following Armadale and Albany staff closing their offices last Wednesday, to call on the Premier to prevent the collapse of the system that protects children at risk of neglect and abuse.
One Delegate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as to avoid a breach of discipline, said of the crisis, “Staff are extremely burnt out, mental health is not a priority, workers are underpaid for the work they do and the stress it causes. Nothing is fixing the ongoing systematic issues that workers have to deal with, extremely stressful and difficult to work in with just band-aid solutions.”
CPSU/CSA Branch Secretary, Rikki Hendon, said failures of successive Governments and Ministers had led to this disappointing state of affairs, and that it was up to Premier Cook to ensure it was not his Government that became responsible for the total collapse of Western Australia’s child protection system.
“WA’s Child Protection system is in crisis. Our members are no longer tolerating platitudes, piecemeal approaches and half-measures. That's why they're stopping work today to campaign for real solutions.
“Results from a recent union Work, Health and Safety Survey found 75% of staff surveyed said there are not enough resources to get the work done in a timely manner, and 70% of surveyed staff considered leaving in the past six months. This is dire.
“The number of open cases without a dedicated caseworker has climbed to record highs, with recent figures provided to the Union showing almost 1200 unallocated.
“The Government must urgently implement measures to attract and retain staff, ensure safe workloads that enable best practice, and fully resource Child Protection to ensure all at-risk children and families with open cases are allocated to a dedicated caseworker to receive the support they require.
“CPSU/CSA members in Western Australia’s Child Protection and Family Support system will continue taking action until the Cook Government meets these demands from members. It’s time for the WA Labor Government to invest some of their record surpluses into meeting the needs of the vulnerable children and families in our community. “
ENDS
Notes
- Members will walk out of their offices at 9am, followed by a short rally.
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CPSU/CSA Branch Secretary, Rikki Hendon will be available for comment at 9:30am at the Cannington CPFS office.
- Members will then enter their offices at 9:45am, where they will be unavailable until after lunch.
- The CPSU/CSA covers 44,000 general public sector workers, one-quarter of the WA public sector, including child protection officers, youth custodial officers, park rangers, veterinary scientists and dental technicians.
- Note to Journalists: Please ensure the full acronym, “CPSU/CSA” when mentioning us. The CPSU/CSA and CPSU are separate organisations with the latter covering Commonwealth, ACT and NT public sector workers.
Additional Information
- In late April, CPFS union delegates issued an ultimatum to the Minister for Child Protection and Family Support, calling for immediate action to reform the statutory child protection system or face the prospect of industrial action. Delegates in early July resolved that the response from the Minister and Department was grotesquely inadequate, and now seek intervention from Premier Cook.
For more information or to arrange further comment from Branch Secretary Rikki Hendon, please contact CPSU/CSA Reception on 08 9323 3800 and ask for the Media and Stakeholder Engagement Officer.
