There is a dearth of leadership at Families SA, with the embattled agency boasting fewer executive-level employees than any of its public-sector equivalents.
Figures obtained by InDaily reveal that as of this time last year the state’s child protection agency had only six executive positions, which accounted for 0.4 per cent of its total workforce.
By contrast, its parent department, Education and Child Development, had 499 executives at the same point, representing 2.2 per cent of overall staff – 83 times more top-level staff.
Even allowing for the fact that likely includes school leaders, a cross-section of departments surveyed shows there are fewer leaders per capita, and in total, in the embattled child protection agency, where insiders have spoken of plunging morale in the wake of high-profile failures and chronic under-funding.
| Executive Positions Reports as at 30 June 2014 | ||
| Public Sector Agencies | No. of Executive Positions | Executives as a percentage of total workforce |
| Families SA | 6 | 0.4 |
| Attorney General’s Department | 87 | 6.2 |
| Department of Communities and Social Inclusion | 40 | 0.9 |
| Department of Correctional Services | 10 | 0.6 |
| Department of Education and Child Development | 499 | 2.2 |
| Department of Further Education, Employment and Training | 15 | 3 |
| Department of Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy | 39 | 8.2 |
| Department of Premier and Cabinet | 74 | 3.2 |
| Department of Treasury and Finance | 36 | 6.5 |
| SAPOL (Total Sworn and Unsworn) | 146 | 2.5 |
Guardian for Children and Young People Pam Simmons told InDaily the numbers reflected that the agency’s broader workforce was “relatively depleted”.
“It also suggests an agency that’s had to cannibalise itself a little to have to carry out any reform,” she said.
“Any reform required to be done has had to be done within existing resources, and that’s very difficult for any agency.”
InDaily revealed last month that SA lagged behind other jurisdictions in child protection spending.
Simmons said while Families SA had been “appointing a number of managers this year”, since the data was collected, the figures nonetheless reflected an “overall workforce investment issue”.
“It’s absolutely important to have good agency leadership, (but) whether that’s a matter of increasing numbers…it’s the quality of the leadership that makes the difference.”
Last week’s budget contained $20 million in new money for child protection, with a focus on increasing foster care, frontline support and expanding a Positive Parenting Program.
But while she welcomed those initiatives, Simmons said much additional money was merely addressing ongoing demand for out-of-home care and largely offset by whole-of-government savings targets.
“How are we going to curb the growth in demand for out-of-home care and what are we going to do to improve the quality of out-of-home care — those are the big issues we as a community and a Government have to face,” she said.
“The budget goes only a small way to doing that.”
She said what was required was “not just an investment in numbers (but) investment in professional training, development and support”.
“If you want a workforce that behaves professionally, you have to treat them professionally,” said Simmons.
“That requires investment well beyond what they’ve been able to do at present.”
