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Child Safety


Child, Shadow

Commission of Inquiry Draws to a Close

Today was the closing session of the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings

Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP  |  Media Release  |  30 Aug 2023


Child, Shadow

Urgent Action Needed on Child Safety

Revelations that calls about child safety concerns to the Advice & Referral Line have been going unanswered are incredibly serious, and demand immediate action

Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP  |  Media Release  |  17 Jul 2023


Parliament House, Tasmania

Education, Children and Young People – Child Safety Services

The allegation is that there has been a dramatic loss of staff from Child Safety. The number I have had given to me is 25, many on stress leave.

Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  7 Jun 2023


Child, Shadow

State Service Stand Downs Confirm Need for Reform and Investment Now

The 43 state servants who have been stood down points to the significant scale of the culture and harms that led to the establishment of the Commission of Inqui

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  5 Jun 2023


Doctor with Patient

Greens Release Plan for Healthy Essential Workforce

For a healthy, inclusive lutruwita/Tasmania, that genuinely leaves no one behind, we need a strong, well-resourced and valued public service.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  31 May 2023


Classroom, Students with Raised Hands

Retaining Essential Workers

We need a plan to attract and retain the essential workers who hold the fabric of our society together.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Policies  |  31 May 2023


Parliament House, Tasmania

Child and Youth Safe Organisations Bill 2022

We are at this point because the state of Tasmania, governments, community organisations, people from across the community, have failed children over decades.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  30 Mar 2023


Child, Shadow

Rockliff Must Act on CCYP Report Findings

The Commissioner for Children and Young People report into Tasmania’s out-of-home care system is troubling, and its findings demand urgent action

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  15 Mar 2023


Lonely Child

ROGS Confirm Child Safety Record Going Rapidly Backwards

Today’s Productivity Commission Report on Government Services (RoGS) again highlights the Rockliff Government’s appalling child safety record.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  24 Jan 2023


Child, Shadow

Recognising National Survivors' Day

Today we recognise the pain and honour the courage of all survivors of sexual assault and institutional abuse.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  15 Nov 2022


Parliament House, Tasmania

Senator Alex Antic - Comments

The odious Senator Alex Antic, accused the ABC of 'grooming' over the reading of a book that tells young women it is okay to wear pants.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  9 Nov 2022


Lonely Child

Child Safety Ignored by Rockliff Government

Across Tasmania, child safety workers have walked off the job today due to the Liberals’ failure to resource this critical service.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  5 Oct 2022


Child, Shadow

National Child Protection Week

With the backdrop of the Commission of Inquiry, this National Child Protection Week is a particularly sombre one in Tasmania

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  5 Sep 2022


Bureaucracy, Professional with Paperwork

Children, Education and Youth – ED5 Investigations

How many staff at Ashley Youth Detention Centre have been stood down or had their position terminated?

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  8 Jun 2022


Parliament House, Tasmania

Children, Education and Youth – Advice and Referral Line

We have gone from a system where when someone has a concern for a child and rang child safety that was when the clock started ticking on the referral.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  8 Jun 2022


Justice, Scales and Gavel

Attorney-General and Justice – Commission of Inquiry

Ms Webster's evidence your department would not be embedding child safety principles at the leadership level.

Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  6 Jun 2022


Justice, Scales and Gavel

Premier – Commission of Inquiry

The Secretary of Communities Tasmania, Ms Webster, responded to a question and said that the 'Child Safe Standards Framework would take three years to deliver.'

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  6 Jun 2022


Child, Shadow

Jaensch's Shameful Secrecy

MinisterRoger Jaensch has refused to answer critical questions in Budget Estimates about staff who are stood down for child sexual abuse matters

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  8 Jun 2022


Justice, Scales and Gavel

Ministerial Statement – Response to Commission of Inquiry

The statement made by Premier Rockliff is exactly what victims/survivors of child sexual abuse in Tasmania needed to hear.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  24 May 2022


Empty Classroom

Child Safety

This report, which has only been released through right to information, is deeply confronting reading.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  10 Nov 2021


Empty Classroom

Student Safeguards Must be in Place by New School Year

Tasmanian parents need greater reassurance that their children are safe in the state’s public school system.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  10 Nov 2021


Bureaucracy, Professional with Paperwork

Department of Education - Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The report of the inquiry reveals a culture of cover-up within the Department of Education that persists to this day.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  10 Nov 2021


Justice, Scales and Gavel

Department of Education - Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The full report for the inquiry into sexual abuse in the State public public school system was received by the department nearly five months ago.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  10 Nov 2021


Justice, Scales and Gavel

Tasmanian Commission of Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse - Implementation of Key Recommendations

Limited progress has been made on the introduction of a reportable conduct scheme.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  27 Oct 2021


Justice, Scales and Gavel

Child Safety

There is something deeply wrong with the child safety system here and the way it is being administered.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  26 Oct 2021


Legislation, Clause Being Highlighted

Children, Young Persons and Their Families Amendment Bill 2021

There is logic behind this amendment bill, and I note it is part of the national reform process.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  25 Aug 2021


Survey, Filling out Sheet

Survey Shows Child Safety Staff Under Enormous Strain

Recently released results of a CPSU survey of child safety staff are disturbing, and must be addressed by the Human Services Minister

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  20 Mar 2021


Justice, Scales and Gavel

Justice Miscellaneous (Commissions of Inquiry) Bill 2021

Behind this amendment bill is so much trauma. I think it is reasonable to say that as a state we have been failing children and young people for decades.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  18 Mar 2021


Four Young People Sitting on Ledge

Expert Panel Welcomed, TOR Need Improvement

The Tasmanian Greens welcome the appointment of the Expert Panel to investigate alternatives to the Many Colours One Direction program.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  4 Feb 2021


Lonely Child

Opacity Over Stood Down State Servants Inexcusable

Yet another State Service employee has been stood down in the lead up to the Commission of Inquiry into child sexual abuse. 

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  27 Jan 2021


Lonely Child

Damning ROGS Data in Housing, Homelessness, Child Safety and Youth Justice

Vulnerable Tasmanians are being left behind by the Gutwein Government.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  20 Jan 2021


Justice, Scales and Gavel

TT-Line – Child Safety

Former Launceston nurse and alleged paedophile James Griffin worked on the Spirit of Tasmania between October 2003 and January 2009.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  8 Dec 2020


Lonely Child

Sport and Recreation - Child Safety

The manager at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre, who has had serious allegations raised against them has been transferred to manage the Launceston Silverdome.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  26 Nov 2020


Justice, Scales and Gavel

Shelton Silent on Child Abuse Allegations

The Police Minister's refusal to answer questions about his inaction in the James Geoffrey Griffin matter is a shameful abrogation of ministerial responsibility

Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP  |  Media Release  |  26 Nov 2020


Lonely Child

Safety of Children

There is something both rotten and wrong with the way at-risk children and young people are dealt with in Tasmania.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  19 Nov 2020


Justice, Scales and Gavel

Commission of Inquiry Must Investigate LGH and Ashley Youth Detention Centre

The Liberals must do right by the children who are, and have been, in government care.

Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP  |  Media Release  |  11 Nov 2020


Parliament House, Tasmania

Brahminy Foundation Program

Motion calling on the Government to bring children home from the Brahminy Program.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  14 Oct 2020


Lonely Child

Child Safety at Brahminy Foundation

We can do this in Tasmania. It is a question of political will. We have to do better by these kids.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  14 Oct 2020


Lonely Child

Many Colours 1 Direction Program

We have now seen video evidence of at least one young Tasmanian doing more than 100 kilometres an hour on a remote back road.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  14 Oct 2020


Aboriginal Flag

Brahminy Foundation Program

There are six young Aboriginal Tasmanians banished to a remote facility in the Northern Territory.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  13 Oct 2020


Parliament House, Tasmania

Brahminy Review Must Be Independent, Comprehensive

The internal review into the Brahminy program is inadequate, and the Minister should announce an independent, comprehensive review.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  6 Oct 2020


Classroom, Students with Raised Hands

Teachers Registration Amendment Bill 2019

The bill deals with some current constraints on the Teachers Registration Board in dealing with a teacher without a Working with Vulnerable People registration.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  16 Sep 2020


Bureaucracy, Professional with Paperwork

Job Cuts - Public Sector

Last week in here, we confirmed the cuts to the Child Safety Service via a message from senior managers to case workers to trim expenditure.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  26 Aug 2020


Magistrates Court

Child Safety Services - Notifications Procedure

On Monday a coronial investigation will begin into the deaths of seven babies and young children who were known to Child Safety Services.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  20 Aug 2020


Lonely Child

Child Safety System - Funding of Services

March this year the Greens raised the serious concerns of child safety staff a lack of planning and resourcing in the child safety system.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  20 Aug 2020


Lonely Child

Jaensch Fails to Rule Out Child Safety Cuts

The Minister for Human Services failed to answer important questions about cuts to Child Safety Services in State Parliament today. 

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  20 Aug 2020


Lonely Child

Minister Must Explain COVID Child Safety Response

The Minister for Human Services must explain why vulnerable children were unable to access safe accommodation or key support services during COVID restrictions.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  6 Aug 2020


Lonely Child

Plan Needed to Protect Vulnerable Children During COVID-19 Pandemic

Our child protection services were already struggling, but COVID-19 is exacerbating the situation.

Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP  |  Media Release  |  20 Mar 2020


Lonely Child

TCCI Report Reveals Widening Wealth Gap Under Hodgman Liberals

The TCCI’s ‘Tasmania Report’ confirms what many Tasmanians are feeling. The wealth gap is widening under Will Hodgman’s leadership.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  2 Dec 2019


Lonely Child

Out-of-Home Care Monitoring and Oversight

Out-of-home care in Tasmania remains recklessly unregulated five-and-a-half years after the Liberal Party took government.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  29 Oct 2019


Lonely Child

Jaensch Confirms by Omission His Office Requested Ashley Redactions

The Minister responsible for the Ashley Youth Detention Centre refused to honestly answer a simple, direct question from the Greens.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  29 Oct 2019


Lonely Child

Hodgman's Child Safety Leadership Failure

The Premier and his Treasurer have conceded defeat on public sector wage negotiations and referred the matter to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  27 Jun 2019


Air View of Houses

Estimates Reply - Minister Jaensch

There is a surge in the budget allocation that runs out next year for child safety services.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  11 Jun 2019


Lonely Child

Child Protection Not Safe From Gutwein's Cuts

The Treasurer has refused to commit the government to quarantining the child protection system from the so-called ‘efficiency dividend’.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  4 Jun 2019


Lonely Child

Budget 2019-20 - Essential Services Funding

The elective surgery waiting list has soared, along with time spent in the emergency department, yet there is no new money for health in this year's budget.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  28 May 2019


Lonely Child

Slow, Systemic Reforms Won't Fix Systemic Under-funding of Child Protection

Tasmanian children and young people are being let down day after day as a result of persistent under-resourcing by the Hodgman Liberal Government.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  13 Mar 2019


Lonely Child

Child Safe Standards

It is quite breathtaking that we, in 2018, we still do not have a set of nationally consistent standards for child safety.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  26 Sep 2018


Lonely Child

At Risk Children and Young People Still Let Down

Tasmania’s under-resourced child protection system continues to let down at risk children and young people.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  31 Aug 2018


Lonely Child

Child Protection - Total Support Services Notification

can you confirm that when the ABC alerted your office to these allegations that they were taken very seriously?

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  24 May 2018


Lonely Child

Total Support Services briefing

Total Support Services have been described as totally unprofessional, with unqualified management, a poor workplace culture, and no training of new staff.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  24 May 2018


Lonely Child

Child Protection - Total Support Services

The allegation is that Total Support Services is exposing children with disabilities to inappropriate discipline.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  24 May 2018


Lonely Child

Child Safety Services - Resourcing

The evidence strongly suggests an under-resourced agency was unable to respond in time possibly to save the child's life.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  17 Oct 2017


Lonely Child

Actions of Minister Petrusma

We have just heard the Minister for Human Services try to justify not telling parliament the truth over the wellbeing of 11 at-risk children.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  8 Aug 2017


Lonely Child

Child Protection - Safe Pathways

Leaked departmental documents show the Minister misled parliament over the wellbeing of 11 children who had been placed with Safe Pathways last year.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  8 Aug 2017


Lonely Child

A Critical time for Tasmania's Children

Tasmania's child safety workers are at the absolute front line of protecting children from abuse and neglect.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  6 Sep 2017


Bureaucracy, Professional with Paperwork

Resignation of the Commissioner for Children

It is a sad day for Tasmania's children and young people with the sudden resignation of Commissioner, Mark Morrissey.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  3 Aug 2017


Lonely Child

Child Protection - Safe Pathways Still in Operation

An email sent to staff on 13 March makes clear that Safe Pathways is still doing business here.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  16 Mar 2017


Lonely Child

Child Protection - Right to Information Requests

The Greens' Safe Pathways right to information request was lodged on 22 November last year. It is now two and a half months overdue.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  8 Mar 2017


Lonely Child

Liberals Treat Public's Right to Know with Contempt

Late yesterday, the Tasmanian Greens finally received the response to a Right to Information request we lodged on the 22nd of November last year. 

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  10 Mar 2017


Lonely Child

Liberals Break Right to Information Law

The Liberals have instituted a culture of secrecy and contempt for Right to Information which is infecting the entire government.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  8 Mar 2017


Lonely Child

Premier Hodgman Undercuts Human Services Minister on Child Protection

After the Safe Pathways scandal and evidence the State neglected children in its care, this is a completely unacceptable response from the Premier.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  1 Feb 2017


Lonely Child

Commissioner for Children's Report Exposes Urgent Need for Funding

The report into Tasmania’s child protection and out of home care system by the Commissioner for Children and Young People demands urgent attention.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  31 Jan 2017


Lonely Child

RoGS Reinforces Government's Failure to Keep Vulnerable Children Safe

The RoGS chapter on child protection services released today illustrates enduring and serious issues that need to be sensitively examined and addressed.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  24 Jan 2017


Lonely Child

Still Too Many Unanswered Questions on Safe Pathways

Five months after concerns were first raised with the government about the treatment of vulnerable children in the care of Safe Pathways, many questions remain.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  15 Jan 2017


Lonely Child

1000 Days in Which Vulnerable Children Have Been Put More At Risk

The Liberals sure do have a hide, crowing about their response to vulnerable people over their 1000 days in office. 

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  8 Dec 2016


Lonely Child

Petrusma's Child Protection Crisis

In the past year, the average number of children waiting each day for a response from Child Protection has increased from 15.5 to 65.5.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  7 Dec 2016


Lonely Child

Petrusma Must Cancel Safe Pathways' Contract

The Minister for Human Services must accept responsibility for the Safe Pathways scandal and cancel the government contract with the for-profit provider.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  1 Dec 2016


Lonely Child

Child Protection - Safe Pathways

This week, the manifest failings of Tasmania's child protection and out-of-home-care system were revealed to a national audience and to Tasmanians.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  17 Nov 2016


Lonely Child

Child Protection - Safe Pathways

Could you please detail to the House when the funding agreement with Safe Pathways commenced and the total value of this agreement?

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  16 Nov 2016


Bureaucracy, Professional with Paperwork

Safe Pathways Funding not Reaching Kids

Yesterday the Minister told the House all 11 children currently in the care of Safe Pathways would be visited by a Child Protection officer. 

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  16 Nov 2016


Lonely Child

Child Protection - Safe Pathways

I listened very carefully to your response to the Opposition Leader's questions on Safe Pathways and the allegations raised in Four Corners last night.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  15 Nov 2016


Lonely Child

No Role for Profit Making in Child Protection

Chronic, systemic underfunding of child protection in Tasmania has laid the ground for businesses to profit from the abuse and neglect of children.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  16 Nov 2016


Lonely Child

Greens Are Focussed on the Key Issues

The Hodgman Liberals are desperately trying to deflect from Matthew Groom's woeful performance as Minister for Energy.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  11 Mar 2016


Lonely Child

Child Protection Review Exposes Lack of Resources

The report in to the failure to investigate 151 child protection notifications in the North West has exposed that resourcing is a serious issue.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  27 Aug 2015


Lonely Child

Child Protection

Yesterday the Minister could not provide any answers as to why the child protection system failed 151 children on the north-west coast.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  19 Aug 2015


Child, Shadow

Child Protection

It is almost three weeks since the department first became aware of the child protection system's failure to follow up on at least 151 child protection alerts.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Parliamentary Activity  |  19 Aug 2015


Lonely Child

Minister Petrusma Gave Us No Choice

The three Greens MPs met this morning and agreed that we would keep an open mind on the likely no confidence Motion to be brought on by Labor.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  20 Aug 2015


Lonely Child

Prioritise Child Protection

The latest RoGS reveals damage to vulnerable children caused by the Hodgman Government’s underfunding of child protection in Tasmania.

Cassy O'Connor MP  |  Media Release  |  30 Jan 2015