Sixteen prominent Canberrans have signed an open letter calling out the government for delaying measures to protect children and eroding public trust in the system.
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The letter urged immediate action to implement a mechanism for external review of child protection decisions. It said while decisions in this area were "inherently complex", the need to improve transparency within the system and accountability was urgent.
"There can be no excuse for the ACT to continue to remain out of step with the rest of Australia by continuing to deny vulnerable children and their families their basic human rights," the letter read.
The letter is signed by Human Rights Commissioner Helen Watchirs, Commissioner for Children and Young People Jodie Griffiths-Cook, Discrimination Commissioner Karen Toohey, Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates, Legal Aid chief executive John Boersig, Law Society president Chris Donohue, ADACAS chief executive Michael Bleasdale, Our Booris Our Way former chair Barbara Causon, Women's Legal Centre principal solicitor Claudia McLean, Beryl Inc chief executive Robyn Martin, Winnunga chief executive Julie Tongs, ACTCOSS chief executive Dr Emma Campbell, and St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn chief executive Barnie van Wyk, among others.
It questions Minister for Children, Youth and Families Rachel Stephen-Smith's commitment to creating more review mechanisms.
"We respectfully disagree with your observation that there is no clear consensus among stakeholders about which child protection decisions should be reviewable or the most appropriate process for their review. We wish to highlight that there is, in fact, overwhelming community and stakeholder consensus about these matters."
The letter said it is of "significant concern" that the limited accountability for child protection decisions disproportionately impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Attached to the letter is a communique that details what decisions should be able to be reviewed, and how.
"Parents, carers, family members, children and other sufficiently interested persons (e.g. lawyers) must be able to ask the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal to review the merits of decisions made by the Director-General or their delegates (including outsourced service providers, like ACT Together) about a child or young person's care. A person must be able to access external review even where they have not already sought review internally," the proposal reads.
Decisions that should be reviewable, they said, should include things like care plans relating to placements, decisions relating to child-parent and child-sibling contact, and decisions to withhold information from parents and family information about a child's care placements. These decisions are not able to be reviewed currently.
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"External merits review of child protection decisions is a standard feature in other Australian jurisdictions. This is a serious matter that must be rectified urgently."
Ms Stephen-Smith said she and the Community Services Directorate acknowledged there needed to be better measures in place. But, she said, there were problems with this proposal including that it would take "significant time and resources" to implement such a model.
"In the interim work is progressing on models that reflect the intent of stakeholder feedback but don't require legislative changes," the minister said.
The minister will be tabling an update on the Review of child protection decisions in the ACT in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
