360 child abuse victims left out in the cold as staff are … STRESSED OUT!

By Melissa Meehan
A STAFFING crisis has seen 360 proven cases of child abuse left in limbo.
Child protection is under fire and the Department of Human Services has been put on notice as staff say they’ve “had enough”.
Work safety watchdog, WorkSafe, has issued notices against the Dandenong office of Department of Human Services (DHS), one of three that received notices over workload and staffing issues.
It follows claims that child protection officers are being forced to visit potentially dangerous homes alone to investigate reports of child abuse.
But the government says the department has more staff, staying in the job longer than ever before.
Community and Public Services Union (CPSU) acting branch secretary Jim Walton told Star that DHS staff were collapsing due to anxiety and stress at work.
“We have been negotiating with the government for the best part of two decades over these issues,” Mr Walton said.
“But the government says it would cost too much to hire more staff.”
He said at the Dandenong office alone there were 360 unallocated cases of child abuse.
“This means there are 360 proven cases of child abuse of some sort not being seen to,” he said.
“Our members are overworked; it’s causing them to get chronic fatigue, lack of sleep and other health problems.”
He said the DHS workers had had enough.
“The government says it can’t afford to hire more people,” he said.
“But can we afford to have children left at risk?”
WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt confirmed that both the Dandenong and Cheltenham offices had been issued with a Provisional Improvement Notice, but the notice on the Preston office had been lifted. Mr Birt said WorkSafe had identified that resourcing was at the core of the problems at Dandenong.
“I understand there is a recruitment process underway to address this issue,” he said.
“Nonetheless health and safety issues need to be attended to.
“We are currently in discussions with the DHS.”
He said DHS could either accept or reject the provisional improvement notice conditions and if the matter couldn’t be resolved either party could appeal through WorkSafe’s internal review unit or VCAT.
DHS spokesman Brendan Ryan said the notices were served in respect to workload and staffing issues.
“DHS has an agreed action plan in place to address those issues to the satisfaction of local staff and WorkSafe,” Mr Ryan said.
“The DHS is actively recruiting additional senior child protection staff and working with existing staff to up-skill them.
“Vacancy rates among child protection staff have been halved, we are recruiting more staff and they are staying with us longer.”
A State Government spokesperson said Community Services Minister Lisa Neville had visited one of the offices earlier in the week to speak with workers and assure them that their concerns were being addressed.