Tuesday, 20 September 2022

 Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (12:19): My question is for the Minister for Workplace Safety, representing the Minister for Child Protection and Family Services. Last week my office crunched the numbers from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and found that, using conservative estimates, there will not be enough foster carers to look after children who do not have access to kinship care. This means those children will go into the unreliable system of residential care. The child protection system simply does not work or have good outcomes without volunteers, such as foster and respite carers. The Premier said in response to this at a press conference last week, ‘We know there’s more to be done here’. He also said that the investments that the state government is making will increase the retention of foster carers. Minister, if the government is investing so much money in the child protection system, why are we seeing more foster carers leave than ever before and at disproportionate rates to all other Australian states?

 Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep) (12:19): I thank Mr Grimley for his question to the minister for child protection in the other place. I will get a written response in accordance with the standing orders.

 Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (12:20): Thank you, Minister. The three recommendations that I made last week as part of Foster Care Week were to encourage recruitment and retention of foster carers; to modernise the foster care system, such as to rapidly expand the Treatment Foster Care Oregon program; and to lift the foster carer allowance for the first time since 2016. The minister attended a foster care event recently but did not commit to additional investment in the foster care system. A KPMG report commissioned by the government into the foster care allowance recommended it be lifted by 67 per cent. However, this report has never been made public. Fifty-nine per cent of Victoria’s foster carers use their own money to support kids in their care. It is clear that the foster care payment needs to be lifted. Minister, for the sake of transparency, will the government release the KPMG report? If so, when, and if not, why not?

 Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep) (12:20): I will also refer Mr Grimley’s supplementary question to the minister for child protection.