THE child protection system is not trauma informed or culturally safe, experts say, and is in desperate need of better regulation, ongoing training, support and supervision of staff, as well as better planning.
It is not the system we need, says Dr Tamara Blakemore, social work lecturer at the University of Newcastle.
Organisational factors are "consistently and seemingly without shame" overshadowing the best interests of the children they serve, she said.
Dr Blakemore, a member of the Families and Children Expert Panel and Industry provider list for the federal Department of Social Services, said investment in the ongoing training, support and supervision of staff who oversaw the lives of children in need was sorely needed.
"This means there also needs to be a corresponding shift in the accessibility, affordability and appropriateness of available training offers," Dr Blakemore said.
Her comments followed the release of the Hughes review, which the NSW Department of Communities and Families commissioned after Children's Court magistrate Tracy Sheedy put on the public record the "unconscionable" treatment and "appalling neglect" of two boys in a judgement in October last year.
The Hughes brothers, in Year 6 and 7 when they were removed from their mother in 2020, went on to experience abuse, neglect and serious psychological harm at the hands of strangers.
Former National Children's Commissioner for the Australian Human Rights Commission Megan Mitchell's review cites systemic failures involving every one of the service providers paid to care for the children.
"The Hughes review makes timely commentary on the realities of practitioners who work with and across the social and human service sector, the worries, concerns, pressures, and overwhelming sense that the system we have, is not the system we need," Dr Blakemore said.
"It is a system that prioritises a business, or actuarial model of practice, with inputs in and outcomes out, and the commodification of children in need.
Family support and foster care charity Barnardos chief executive Deirdre Cheers said an ongoing lack of focus on comprehensive and well-assessed planning for kids in crisis removed from their families was leading to disaster.
That issue was at the heart of the circumstances which left the two Hughes boys in the care of a revolving team of 20-plus carers, and in and out of emergency care including hotels.
As of June 30, there were 26 children being cared for in hotels and motels, 37 in serviced apartments and 55 in short-term rentals including caravan parks, Ms Cheers said.
"Most of these children and young people in unsatisfactory arrangements have been inadequately planned for in out-of-home-care (OOHC), leading to increased/compounded trauma and escalation in challenging behaviour," she said.
"The emphasis needs to shift to what is happening to children entering the system and how well children are listened to and planned for during this crucial period."
