Child protection recommendation not guaranteed by SA government despite baby death inquest - ABC News

By Jordanna Schriever

By Meagan Dillon

Topic:Child Abuse

The SA government has stopped short of committing to phasing out a practice that the coroner said should be abolished by 2025. (ABC Kimberley: Andrew Seabourne)

At an inquest last year, the SA coroner recommended the Department for Child Protection scrap the practice of marking cases as "closed no action", which occurs when there are not enough resources to follow up.

The recommendation has only been accepted "in principle" by the SA government, which says it "cannot commit" to a "specific time frame for phasing out" the practice.

The government rejected a separate recommendation to develop a policy to identify the circumstances in which those who make a notification should be told, or not, that a notification has been “closed with no action”, after adopting a practice of acknowledging the receipt of a notification.

The SA government says it "cannot commit" to stamping out a practice that enables child protection authorities to formally "close" cases of suspected abuse or neglect because there aren't enough staff to investigate them.

WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find distressing.

Last year, State Coroner David Whittle recommended the Department for Child Protection (DCP) scrap the practice of marking cases as "closed no action", which occurs when there are not enough resources to conduct a formal follow-up.

The recommendation came out of a coronial inquest into the November 2018 death of an 11-week-old baby who had been living in squalid conditions, and whose family had been the subject of 23 notifications to child protection authorities.

The coroner recommended that the practice of marking child protection cases as "closed" because of lack of resourcing be discontinued beyond this month, unless there was "specific approval in writing" from DCP's chief executive.

He also recommended that the practice be completely phased out by late December 2025.

Squalid conditions inside the home of an 11-week-old baby boy who died in 2018. (Supplied: SA Courts)

But in a tabled report responding to the recommendations, prepared by DCP and the Department for Health and Wellbeing, the recommendation was accepted only "in principle".

The government said it "cannot commit" to either a "specific time frame for phasing out" the practice, or to the proposed interim option involving written approval from the department's chief executive.

The coroner's recommendation was itself based on a recommendation from South Australia's 2016 Child Protection Systems Royal Commission, which stipulated a five-year time frame for implementation.

Mr Whittle said that, until his recommendation was fully implemented, "further potentially preventable deaths of children" would continue to occur among cases designated as "'closed no action' due to a lack of resources".

In its response, the government said while notifications increased by 83 per cent in the wake of the royal commission's report, "significant inroads" had been made to increase the capacity to respond.

It said "systemic changes" had been introduced "which improve the capacity of the state to offer a more targeted response", and that SA was now a national leader in completing investigations within "nationally agreed time frames".

The state government accepted the recommendation "in principle". (ABC News: Che Chorley)

The government did not accept a separate recommendation to develop a policy to identify the circumstances in which those who make a notification should be told, or not, that a notification has been "closed with no action".

In line with a 2016 royal commission recommendation the government instead provides confirmation when a notification has been received.

The government argued that informing a notifier that a notification had been closed without action could have "unintended consequences" such as "compromising an SA Police investigation or dissuading a notifier from making future notifications" — outcomes, it said, that "could compromise the safety" of children or young people.

According to the 2016 royal commission, the designation "closed no action" is applicable in child protection cases assessed as Tier 2 or Tier 3.

While Tier 3 cases involve "low risk of further harm or low-level care concerns", a Tier 2 classification applies where there is a "moderate to high risk of significant harm" and requires a response "within five or 10 days".

"If the child is 12 months or younger, the response should be within three days," the commission's summary report states.

In his 2024 coronial findings, Mr Whittle noted the infant's mother had been the subject of 23 notifications to the department between 2015 and the baby's death, some of which were closed because the department's regional office which handled the file had no staff.

Many of the notifications related to the squalid conditions the baby and his two siblings were living in.

The baby died surrounded by rubbish on a fold-out sofa, in which he had been sleeping with four people, including his mother.

Footage played at the inquest showed the house covered in rubbish, cat faeces and soiled nappies, with mouldy baby bottles and no food in the kitchen.

Several people including the baby boy had been sleeping on a fold-out sofa. (Supplied)

The coroner found the boy's mother should have ensured the infant was put to sleep in a "clean, well-set-up cot", but that she had "consistently" demonstrated over a number of years "that she struggled to meet her parenting responsibilities".

Mr Whittle found that, had DCP responded to a notification made days before the child died, he would have been removed from the home instead of being left to sleep on the fold-out couch.

He also said an earlier notification, made six months before the baby was born, created another opportunity for the department to intervene.

"The inability of DCP to respond to this notification, resulting in a closure of this notification without any further inquiries being made, was a significant missed opportunity," he said.

1800 Respect, National counselling helpline: 1800 737 732

Bravehearts, counselling and support for survivors of child sexual abuse: 1800 272 831

Child Wise, counselling provider: 1800 991 099

Lifeline, 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention: 13 11 14

Care Leavers Australia Network: 1800 008 774

PartnerSPEAK, peer support for non-offending partners: (03) 9018 7872

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