Child protection
Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:20): (712) My question is to the Minister for Children. An 18-month-old girl died last month. Her protection case had been raised with the department on several occasions and with your office, including in May this year. An order was made that this child and her twin sibling spend weekends unsupervised with their mother despite several documented incidents and despite repeated pleas from their grandmother to have the order reviewed because of her grave fears for the children’s safety. Minister, how is it that this critical case, with compelling evidence and an urgent call to action, lands in your office but is not immediately triaged and acted upon?
Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:21): I thank Ms Bath for her question. At the outset can I say that the death of any child in any circumstance is obviously tragic, and I of course send my condolences and acknowledge the impact on families and those who love and know and work with a child who may have passed. Can I, though, also say that in this place I do not comment on individual cases. It is not appropriate for me to go into the specifics of any case or to hypothesise about the specifics of any case. When a child who is known to child protection does pass, the appropriate actions are taken by the department and the cause of death is assessed by the coroner. It is not appropriate that those matters be canvassed in this place.
Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:22): Minister, thank you for your response. This is devastating for the grandmother, who I have spoken with on this issue. This is a failure of child protection and the system that you are responsible for, which has cost a little girl her life. What will you do to ensure that the sibling is safe and not subjected to the same conditions as her sister, which tragically cost the sister her life?
Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:22): I again thank Ms Bath for her question and acknowledge that these are indeed tragic circumstances by Ms Bath’s descriptions. As I said, cause of death is a matter for the coroner, and I will not discuss individual child protection matters in this place or in the media. It is appropriate that the department and the coroner are allowed to go through the appropriate processes without politics being made of such tragic circumstances.
Members interjecting.
David Davis: On a point of order, President, I understand that this is an incredibly tragic case that has been brought to the chamber by Ms Bath, but one of the issues here is it seems from what the minister is saying that it is not possible for the chamber to inquire into and to seek explanation about the minister’s actual role. I am sorry, President, but this is actually a serious, important matter. If we cannot ask about a minister’s actual role in this tragic case, there is something very wrong.
Georgie Crozier: Further to the point of order, President, this is obviously a deeply tragic case and there are circumstances which the minister cannot go to. But in relation to the failures in the system, Ms Bath has spoken to the grandmother concerned, and she wanted it directly raised with the minister in the Parliament.
The PRESIDENT: This is just debating. That is not a point of order. The requirement under standing orders as far as answering questions goes is that if a minister is responsive and answers a question as she deems appropriate, she has answered it. An answer to a question can be, ‘I cannot answer that question because of certain reasons.’ That is an answer to a question. That is the way it has been determined this term, so I do not uphold the point of order.