SOUTH West child protection workers should not be blamed for the way an investigation into a Bunbury pedophile was handled, according to the Community and Public Sector Union.
The case of Down syndrome baby Gammy, who was born via a Thai surrogate and left overseas by his Bunbury parents, has continued to make headlines this month.
Last week child protection minister Helen Morton revealed in WA parliament the department had been told about David Farnell’s child sex offences in May and knew he had a child in his care.
But the minister did not know until August 4 and an investigation began.
Ms Morton said the South West child protection team was overstretched and had not given the case the attention it deserved.
Union assistant secretary Rikki Hendon said it was not acceptable for Mrs Morton to shift the political heat from herself to child protection workers who could not directly respond to the criticism.
“The minister has publicly acknowledged the team was overstretched and she needs to take responsibility for this,” Ms Hendon said.
“For years our union has been saying the funding and resources allocated to child protection by the Barnett Government has not been reflective of the growing and complex workload.”
Responding to criticism from child protection opposition spokesman Stephen Dawson, Mrs Morton said South West staffing figures had increased over the last three years with an “increased proportion of staff working in frontline positions”.
Mrs Morton said the region’s caseloads currently sat at about 12 per caseworker, which she said was well within the bounds of the maximum of between 15 and 18 set by the State Industrial Commission.
“These are the lowest known caseload limits both nationally and internationally,” she said.
