Victoria, Report of the Protecting Victoria's Vulnerable Children Inquiry, Parl Paper No 112 (2012).
2.
VictoriaSee, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 7 August 2014, 2657 (Mary Wooldridge); Protecting Victoria's Vulnerable Children Inquiry (12 February 2012) <http://www.childprotectioninquiry.vic.gov.au>.
3.
Space constraints prohibit discussion about local or international discussions regarding the balance between the administrative power of human service departments and judicial review procedures. See DingwallRichardEekelaarJohnMurrayTopsy, The Protection of Children (Quid Pro, 2nd Ed, 2014); McIntoshJenniferBryantDianaMurrayKristen, ‘Evidence of a Different Nature: The child- responsive and less adversarial initiatives of the Family Court of Australia’ (2008) 46(1) Family Court Review125–36.
4.
This information was sourced from conversations between the authors and senior practitioners in major child protection agencies who participated in those meetings and communications, and from conversations with a specialist lawyer who received similar reports. Please note: The Department of Health and Human Services, created in 2014, amalgamated the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services.
5.
In May 2012 the government issued its response: Victoria's Vulnerable Children: Our shared responsibility Directions Paper. Subsequently it introduced the Commission for Children and Young People Act 2012 (Vic) which established the office of the Commission for Children and Young people in 2013. This Commission was led by Bernie Geary who had been Child Safety Commissioner for the previous eight years. This Act prohibits the Commission from giving a report of any inquiry it makes to a Minister or the Secretary if – (a) the report includes material that is adverse to a person; or if (b) the report includes material that is adverse to – (i) a health service; or (ii) a human service; or (iii) a school. (s 48 (1) and (2)). To overcome this censorial move and interdict on the Commissioner's power to carrying out a full investigation of problems, The Commission has established a protocol with the Department of Human Services to support responding to enquiries that relate to Child Protection concerns or the safety and wellbeing of children in out-of-home care', Commission for Children and Young People, Annual Report 2012–2013, 5.
The five orders repealed include Custody to Third Party Order, Supervised Custody Order, a Custody to Secretary Order, a long-term Guardianship to Secretary Order and an Interim Protection Order.
OmbudsmanVictoria, Own Motion Investigation into the Department of Human Services – Child Protection Program, Parl Paper No 253 (2009); Own motion investigation into Child Protection – out of home care, Parl Paper No 308 (2010); Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001: Investigation into the failure of agencies to manage registered sex offenders, Parl Paper No 9 (2011); Investigation regarding the Department of Human Services Child Protection program (Loddon-Mallee Region), Parl Paper No 80 (2011).
16.
Besides the four Ombuds' reports, we had: Council of Australian Governments, ‘Protecting Children is Everyone's Business: National framework for protecting Australia's children 2009–2020’ (2009); Children's Court Clinic, Submission to the Victorian Law Reform CommissionReview of Victoria's child protection legislative arrangements by the Children's Court Clinic of Victoria, 29 March 2010; Deloitte Access Economics, ‘The Economic and Social Cost of Child Abuse in Victoria 2009–10’ (Commissioned for the Protecting Victoria's Vulnerable Children Inquiry, September 2011); HigginsDaryl, ‘Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect: Resource sheet’ (National Child Protection Clearinghouse, AIFS, 2009).
