Labor, the Greens and unions are urging the government to use the upcoming state budget to provide more resources across a range of child safety areas following revelations in the Commission of Inquiry about immediate issues that could be putting children at risk.
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A Department of Education senior social worker detailed extreme workload pressures that means their team is almost solely responding to critical incidents in schools and is "overstretched", rather than their core function of reducing barriers to learning.
The situation has put school social workers in positions as primary responders, including to disclosures of abuse, which could in turn impact the trust they have developed with vulnerable families.
Examples were also provided where a lack of after-hours resourcing has meant children have been placed back in potentially at-risk situations in their homes.
Community and Public Sector Union Tasmania secretary Thirza White said supporting a child's emotional needs was a top issue for the workforce, but underresourcing was harming this.
"It's really important that social workers are not just doing the work around neglect and abuse, but are also there to provide support to children. They are supposed to help keep kids in education, to do that we need a huge increase in social workers," she said.
Potential shortcomings with the state's first point of contact for child wellbeing concerns, the Advice and Referral Line - a reform implemented in 2018 - were also highlighted in detail. Many of these concerns were similar to concerns raised in a University of Tasmania review of the program in 2020.
This report found 45 per cent of people who contacted the ARL were dissatisfied, staff were facing high workloads and turnover, and there was confusion and frustration about its roles and responsibilities. A range of recommendations were made.
Ms White said resourcing issues with the ARL were already known.
"I don't think we can wait until the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry come out. We know the challenges. Everyone knows about the underfunding of the ARL," she said.
"We need to resolve that issues in next week's budget."
Contacts to the ARL increased from 12,222 in 2019-20 to 14,111 in 2020-21, along with an increase in referrals to child safety and family support services.
The CPSU wants funding to be tied to demand, and for an emergency workforce retention package.
Mission Australia regional leader, Jurek Stopczynski, oversees the organisation's role in the ARL, and told the Commission of Inquiry the family support sector needed to be adequately resourced to ensure early intervention.
Labor child safety spokesperson Sarah Lovell said the budget should include workforce retention and training measures in the sector and increased resourcing for child safety workers.
"People who are responding to children at risk where notifications have been made are just so completely under the pump. They don't have the resources to respond to children in the way they need to," she said.
Commissioners also heard evidence regarding Tasmania's adopting of recommendations from the child abuse royal commission, which were made five years ago. Legislated child safety standards and a reportable conduct scheme are among those yet to be implemented.
Greens leader Cassy O'Connor said the ARL was "hobbled by a lack of transparency and resources" and staff had "unsustainable workloads".
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"We'll have to wait and see if next week's state budget shows the political will to prioritise the protection of Tasmanian children. At risk children can't wait for government to get its act together. They need support and safety right now," she said.
Children and Youth Minister Roger Jaensch said the government was "continuing to monitor" the ARL and how it interacts with referral sources and schools, while pointing to data showing fewer children entering the out of home care system.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff did not say whether there would be an increased level of funding - above previous forecasts - for school social workers in the budget.
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