Staff from Child Safety Services North are demanding answers about the burnout and stress of essential workers in their organisation which they said has led to a number of children being "non-actively managed".
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The health and community services union (HACSU) and community and public sector union (CPSU), supported members from the Department of Communities Tasmania in Civic Square who undertook a strike in Launceston on Friday to demand better working conditions.
A child safety service officer, said Child Safety Services North were continuing to be deceitful in delivering improvement in their services.
The officer said that their long term cases were being taken off them, and were being put in an official unallocated list, which would mean children would not be looked after.
About 200 children are currently listed as non-actively managed, which, according to the officer, can be attributed to the poor working conditions of the workplace.
"Staff are walking out, they are just getting broken or they're finding jobs that are more satisfying for themselves for the children of the community. They feel at the moment that safety services are not reaching the level that they should have caring for children," the officer said.
Another child safety officer said the agency had no respect in the community and were struggling to work with other NGO services as a result of their reputation.
"We have got a toxic name out there in the community. We can't recruit. We've been trying hard to recruit for years and years, and we're just going backwards.
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"Apart from significant loss of the workforce, what we're seeing is placements breaking down, we're seeing very vulnerable children that aren't being case managed, therefore, their needs are not being met.
The officer said the children who were unattended would have to formulate NDIS plans on their own, have no effective case manager to facilitate family connections, and possibly become isolated and have no voice around their circumstances and safe care.
The officer also said that the children would not have an updated case and care plan, and have no plan to find housing assistance once they turned 18.
Assistant Secretary of the HACSU, Lucas Digney described the situation as ridiculous and said a recruitment and retention package to deal with the problems were desperately needed to fill the vacancies.
"We have a retention crisis, the workers who are still in the workplace, are desperately trying to continue to provide services to Tasmania's most vulnerable people," Mr Digney said.
"What we actually need is resources, we need people, we need a real plan and strategy to deal with the problems that Tasmanians are facing around housing and homelessness.
Mr Digney wondered how people could deliver critical services to vulnerable children, when there was nobody there to do it.
"We desperately need a recruitment and retention package to deal with the problems to start to fill the vacancies, to reward the people who are staying in the system, and to support them so they can stay in the system longer," he said.
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Satria Dyer-Darmawan
Satria Dyer-Darmawan is a journalist for The Examiner and considers himself to be an all rounder. Originally from the Central Coast of NSW, Satria has worked in Alice Springs and North Queensland and isn't afraid to immerse himself in regional communities.
Satria Dyer-Darmawan is a journalist for The Examiner and considers himself to be an all rounder. Originally from the Central Coast of NSW, Satria has worked in Alice Springs and North Queensland and isn't afraid to immerse himself in regional communities.
