Child protection workers to protest over community centre closing

Child protection workers are set to take action outside the Community Services Centre (CSC) in Edgeworth today (Thursday, 18 April) at 12.30pm, after management said the site would be closed.

The protests today, come off the back of an announcement made last week by child protection caseworkers claiming that the child protection system is now in crisis in New South Wales, which has led them to the commencement of an industrial campaign to force the NSW government to act to save thousands of at-risk kids from further harm.

Today’s protests are focused on the closing of the CSC, which is where child protection caseworkers support and protect children at risk of harm in the local area. This announcement that the Edgeworth CSC will in fact close has only inflamed the concerns of local child protection caseworkers and expedited their contribution to statewide campaign action.

The statistics of the current state of the system are extremely alarming, with three in four children reported as at risk of harm from October 1, 2022 until September 30, 2023, and received no visit from Department of Communities and Justice caseworkers.

Even more concerning is a recent report which found low staffing numbers are believed to be among the reasons for some of the deaths of children in child protection in 2022.

The sector is experiencing an unprecedented attraction and retention crisis with one in four positions unfilled in some regions of the state. Representatives of the child protections workers are imploring Premier Chris Minns to intervene.

PSA assistant general secretary, Troy Wright stated: “The most vulnerable children in New South Wales are at risk of serious harm, or even worse, because child protection caseworkers are chronically understaffed, exhausted and management just aren’t listening to their concerns.”

“PSA members are now concerned that we are at risk in NSW of exposing the very same vulnerable children we are meant to be supporting to even greater harm through a broken system.”

The PSA aren’t playing the blame game when it comes to this crisis, stating that it is not the wrongdoing of the current government as to why this is happening. However, it is now their role to fix it.

“To be fair, the current government didn’t create this mess, but it’s up to them to fix it. These child protection caseworkers are passionate about their work, and they want Novocastrians to know no urgent child protection responses will be impacted, and that skeleton staffing will be maintained at all times during this protest.”

“But they feel they have to do something as management just aren’t listening to their concerns,” said Wright.

Child Protection caseworkers will walk off the job and protest outside the Edgeworth CSC (720 Main Road, Edgeworth) today, to bring further awareness to the ongoing crisis that is the child protection system in NSW.