PROTESTING child protection workers have walked off the job on the Central Coast saying they are struggling to keep kids safe amid a mass exodus of workers.
Meanwhile, they say, management's priorities appear skewed, focusing on issues unrelated to kids in crisis, sparking further dismay among workers.
Frontline staff walked off the job in Gosford on Wednesday (August 14) as part of a statewide Public Service Association campaign for better pay, to encourage and retain workers, and to sound the alarm on the worsening child protection crisis.
Public Service Association Assistant NSW General Secretary Troy Wright, who joined workers in Gosford, said burnt out and undervalued child protection workers on the Central Coast were "rushing for every exit".
"And the caseworkers left behind are simply not able to see 80 per cent of identified at-risk kids," Mr Wright said.
'Disaster': Public Service Association
"This is a social disaster in NSW. What caseworkers are demanding is a sense of urgency from the NSW Government. How many of these at-risk kids being ignored are getting hurt right now? How much childhood trauma is mounting in this state because we've ignored this problem and allowed it to fester?
"Child protection workers have had to earn degrees and they use their skills and knowledge to do one of the most important jobs we have. But the current system is just unsustainable. It's broken and we need the government to recognise it for the emergency it is.
"Child protection workers on the Central Coast don't stop work lightly. They know how important every minute of their work is. But they know they just can't go on like this and something has to give."
Emails leaked to the Newcastle Herald reveal that some workers were in shock when they read the damning Auditor General's report released in June.
The report described the NSW child protection system as 'inefficient, ineffective, and unsustainable'.
An email between members of staff highlights a section of the report which pointed out that the average time that children spent in hotels, motels, or serviced apartments had increased from around two and a half months (80 nights) in July 2022, to just over four months (122 nights) in July 2023.
"Some children live in hotel-like accommodation for years," the report says. "In April 2023, of the 48 organisations managing these emergency care placements, 41 of them, or 85% were private, commercial providers that do not require accreditation to provide out of home care services."
The minister for families and communities, Kate Washington, said she had seen "firsthand" the "immense workload that these essential frontline workers are facing and I acknowledge the impact the staff shortages are having".
"That's why the NSW government is working to repair the child protection system to ensure caseworkers are supported to do the complex job involved in keeping children safe," she said.
"When the NSW Labor government scrapped the punitive wages cap imposed by the former Coalition government, child protection caseworkers gained their largest pay increase in over a decade.
"Talks with the PSA are ongoing and we will continue to negotiate with caseworkers in good faith, as they do one of the most important jobs - caring for the state's most vulnerable children."
Staff 'shocked'
In an email quoting the Auditor General's report, a worker said to a colleague: "How on earth can you not be required to be accredited to provide out of home care services. I know I shouldn't be, but I am shocked by that."
A second email between staff said: '15% of kids who meet the rosh are being seen and this is being sent out to the few staff that are still working. I don't know how hey sleep at night."
Those emails were sparked by an email from Acting Deputy Secretary, Child Protection and Permanency Kate Alexander announcing a new workplace surveillance policy.
It is understood that Ms Alexander's email followed close on the heels of an earlier message DCJ secretary Michael Tidball in which he shared a copy of the Auditor General's report.
It was a hard read, staff were told, and were reminded that the Employment Assistance Program was available to them.
"The next missive staff saw, from the head of child protection, wasn't about what the department would do better for kids, it was about surveillance," a union member who did not wish to be identified told the Herald.
