Opposition accusing SA government of mismanaging funding of Department of Child Protection after $68-million-dollar overspend last financial year
The State Opposition is accusing the government of mismanaging funding for the embattled Department of Child Protection after a $68-million-dollar overspend last financial year. It comes in a troubled time for the department, with a damning report describing the state’s child protection system as ‘institutionally racist’. But the SA Government is defending its spending, saying the money was used to hire hundreds of new staff.
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00:00Fresh concerns around the state's embattled Child Protection Department.
00:06The $70 million budget blowout this year for child protection has been the result of day-to-day management incompetence.
00:16The Liberal Party seizing on the most recent budget papers which show an estimated $856 million spent by the department this financial year.
00:25A figure almost $68 million more than budgeted for.
00:29The party naming mismanagement as the cause of the overspend calling for the minister in charge to resign.
00:35She's at the bottom of the ladder. She needs to be relegated for her fail of performance in this really crucial portfolio.
00:42The overspend is the fourth in a row for the department which exceeded its budget by nearly $85 million last financial year.
00:50But the state government says the spending was necessary and used to hire more than 200 employees to meet demand in the sector.
00:57We've been rather deliberate about trying to address child protection not just by investing to employ more people
01:04but also we've seen a change of leadership in the Department of Child Protection.
01:08We've seen those efforts around family group conferencing.
01:11However the government is yet to officially respond to this month's scathing report from South Australia's Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People
01:19which found the state was unnecessarily removing disproportionate and growing numbers of Aboriginal children from their families.
01:26An investigation by the ABC revealed some of these removals were happening before the birthing process had even finished.
01:32The revelations put further pressure on Minister Katrine Hilliard but the Premier hasn't shown any signs of an impending reshuffle.
01:39Well I'm very grateful that on my side of politics we've got a stable and united team and I think we know that's something that the Liberal Party can only dream of.
01:48The government has not indicated when it will finalise its response to the Commissioner's report.
01:56.