Thursday, 12 September 2024

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:26): (673) My question is to the Minister for Children. The incredible and selfless work of foster carers in Victoria is being taken for granted by this government. Consequently, the number of foster carers has been in steady decline since 2020, and the number of households completing accreditations is also decreasing, as the recent carer snapshot report confirmed. Minister, children younger than 10 years of age are being sent to residential care in record numbers, so I ask: what extra services have you initiated to properly protect these really vulnerable children, some as young as six years of age, who have been placed in residential care?

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:26): I thank Ms Crozier for her question. At the outset Ms Crozier has raised the issue of a decline in foster care, but what Ms Crozier fails to acknowledge to the house – and I think it is important to provide the appropriate context for the house – is that our kinship care numbers are the highest in the country, and it is absolutely a preference that children who are in vulnerable circumstances and who cannot live with their parents live in kinship care in some aspect, whether it be their grandparents or be it members of their other community. This is important for all children, and it is particularly important when we are talking about Indigenous children.

I think it is very important to not take it out of context and mislead the house and paint a picture where the decline in foster care is seen in isolation, when the decline in foster care is actually also representative of an increase in kinship care, which is the absolute preference. But if you would like me to talk about our investments in residential care – which, as we have spoken about in this house before, does go to some of the most vulnerable children in the child protection system and some of those children who cannot live in foster care or kinship care – we are very pleased that on this side of the house we have the biggest ever investment in residential care and at the last budget we invested more than half a billion dollars in ensuring that residential care provides wraparound services for all children in residential care, whatever their age, whatever their circumstances and however long they might be there for, so that all children in residential care get access to the services and the supports that they need.

It is important that we do not take residential care out of context and that the children who are in residential care out of context, but it is also important that we do not take out of context children in foster care and children in kinship care. Kinship care is the absolute preference, and kinship care rates in Victoria are higher than anywhere else in the country.

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:28): Thank you, Minister. I reaffirm that the record numbers of children under 10 in residential care are a major concern. I ask: Minister, school is critical for all children, but will you confirm that all primary school aged children in residential care are actually attending school every day?

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:29): I thank again Ms Crozier for her question. It does indeed open up another whole line of questioning and considerations, as opposed to being a supplementary question. But I would also say –

Georgie Crozier: On a point of order, President, the minister in her substantive answer talked about wraparound services and children in residential care. Education is critical for these children, and so this question regarding children in residential care –

The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Ms Crozier. The minister is 13 seconds into her response of 1 minute.

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: Thank you, President. My point simply was that to do the supplementary justice it would have been good if it had actually been the first question, not a supplementary – but I thank Ms Crozier for the opportunity to answer her question. As we have talked about, the children in residential care are amongst some of the most vulnerable children and some of those who have been most traumatised. There are very complex care plans around each and every one of those children in residential care as well as the care plans around those children in our foster care and kinship care –

Georgie Crozier interjected.

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: Sorry, Ms Crozier, would you like me to answer the question, or would you like to constantly have this dialogue of interruptions? What our government is committed to, through the investment that we have made in residential care and ensuring that we have therapeutic wraparound services, is that the children in residential care get all of the support services, including education supports, that they need to get the most out of their education.