South Australia's Guardian for Children and Young People says the government's response to feedback on proposed child safety legislation has been "lukewarm, at best".
Shona Reid provided a submission to the government's Children and Young People (Safety and Support) Bill 2024, after it was released in August, with the state government seeking feedback on the proposed changes to the legislation.
"I am underwhelmed by this consultation process," Ms Reid, an Eastern Arrernte woman, wrote in her submission.
"I am sure that I will not be alone in observing that Government receptiveness to feedback over the past few weeks has been lukewarm, at best. And, at times, downright chilly."
Ms Reid, who has been critical of the SA government's lack of support for raising the age of criminal responsibility, as well as being ignored by the attorney-general for five months after a youth justice report was sent to his office, said she sought to brief those who had been in the care system, and sought their views on how the proposed changes would either benefit, or create risks, to children and young people currently in care.
"One of the key topics they spoke about was how children and young people can often feel powerless in care," Ms Reid said.
"My message to the people who participated in this consultation process is – I hope that I have done your words justice, and I hope that you know how incredibly powerful you are."
The children and young people Ms Reid spoke to highlighted the need for reform in areas of contact arrangements and supporting children who go missing from care and transition from care.
There were also comments on the proposed legislation's focus on carers, and the potential effects of changes to the mandatory reporting threshold.
According to the latest Closing the Gap data, on an average day in 2022-23, over 60 per cent of youth detainees in South Australia were Indigenous, despite making up only 4.7 per cent of the youth population.
Furthermore, in 2022-23, 94.1 out of every 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in SA were in out-of-home care (OOHC)—the second highest in the country behind Victoria.
The rate has increased yearly since the new Closing the Gap agreement was signed in 2020.
In her submission, Ms Reid said she would not be "engaging in the political game of compromise," and instead offering fearless and frank advice, where she hoped compromise could then be reached within cabinet.
Amongst her 17 recommendations to strengthen the draft Bill, Ms Reid said it should not remove the obligation to report on quality of cultural support planning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, nor the obligation to report on progress against recommendations made by the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission.
Furthermore, she argued it should not proceed with expanding powers for child protection officers, allowing them to use force to enter premises without a warrant where a child is absent from a state care placement without lawful authority; and expanding powers for the Court to order a warrant to apprehend a child or young person who is absent from a state care placement without lawful authority.
Ms Reid was critical of the timeframe put forward by the SA government, arguing their position amounted to: "With or without your support, this Bill is going through. Let us get this through, and then we'll circle back."
She said the time constraints were self-made, and the government "should know better than to play politics with children and young people's lives".
Accepting it was "realistic" many of her amendments to the bill would not get up, or would not be incorporated, Ms Reid said, faced with failure, "I will continue to advocate for them and work towards influencing the social settings that lie behind community acceptance and views".
She argued she shouldn't be left "scratching her head" about why recommendations by herself- as the independent oversight body - as well those of the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and Commissioner for Children and Young People, were not accepted.
"In providing my feedback, I do not wish to undermine these good aspects. But it is an essential part of my role to provide advice when I identify areas of risk for children and young people's rights and wellbeing. This is what children and young people in care expect and it's what they are entitled to," Ms Reid said.
"I urge government to consider the risks that I have raised in my feedback, and not proceed with changes that are likely to have adverse impacts upon the lives of children and young people in care – to approach the task of reform with the courage that children and young people deserve."
