360 child abuse victims left out in the cold as staff are ... STRESSED OUT

Ref: Star
By Melissa Meehan
24th July 2009 01:15:07 PM

A STAFFING crisis has seen 360 proven cases of child abuse left in limbo.
Child protection is under fire and the Department of Human Services has
been put on notice as staff say they've “had enough”. Work safety watchdog,
WorkSafe, has issued notices against the Dandenong office of Department of
Human Services (DHS), one of three that received notices over workload and
staffing issues. It follows claims that child protection officers are being forced
to visit potentially dangerous homes alone to investigate reports of child abuse.

But the government says the department has more staff, staying in the job
longer than ever before. Community and Public Services Union (CPSU) acting
branch secretary Jim Walton told Star that DHS staff were collapsing due to
anxiety and stress at work. “We have been negotiating with the government
for the best part of two decades over these issues,” Mr Walton said. “But the
government says it would cost too much to hire more staff.” He said at the
Dandenong office alone there were 360 unallocated cases of child abuse.
“This means there are 360 proven cases of child abuse of some sort not being
seen to,” he said. “Our members are overworked; it’s causing them to get
chronic fatigue, lack of sleep and other health problems.” He said the DHS
workers had had enough. “The government says it can’t afford to hire more
people,” he said. “But can we afford to have children left at risk?”

WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt confirmed that both the Dandenong
and Cheltenham offices had been issued with a Provisional Improvement
Notice, but the notice on the Preston office had been lifted.

Mr Birt said WorkSafe had identified that resourcing was at the core of
the problems at Dandenong. “I understand there is a recruitment process
underway to address this issue,” he said. “Nonetheless health and safety
issues need to be attended to. “We are currently in discussions with the
DHS.” He said DHS could either accept or reject the provisional
improvement notice conditions and if the matter couldn’t be resolved either
party could appeal through WorkSafe’s internal review unit or VCAT.

DHS spokesman Brendan Ryan said the notices were served in respect to
workload and staffing issues. “DHS has an agreed action plan in place to address
those issues to the satisfaction of local staff and WorkSafe,” Mr Ryan said.
“The DHS is actively recruiting additional senior child protection staff and
working with existing staff to up-skill them.

“Vacancy rates among child protection staff have been halved, we are
recruiting more staff and they are staying with us longer.” A State Government
spokesperson said Community Services Minister Lisa Neville had visited
one of the offices earlier in the week to speak with workers and assure them
that their concerns were being addressed.