Taylor, who will resign as chief executive of the Department for Child Protection on April 28, told parliament’s Budget and Finance Committee this morning that the department was supporting the pregnant girls through a specialist service.

She and her deputy chief executive, Fiona Ward, were unable to say exactly how many girls were pregnant, how old they were, or whether they would have custody of their babies.

“There have been other instances of children and young people becoming pregnant,” Taylor told the committee.

“At this point in time, there’s less than five young women who are pregnant in the system… currently.”

It comes after Taylor in 2020 was criticised for not being aware that a 13-year-old girl in state care had fallen pregnant to a paedophile until a journalist asked her department to respond to the court sentencing remarks, which were made public.

Another case emerged later that year when a second 13-year-old girl in state care was found to be living another paedophile for two months while she was pregnant to a different man.

Both cases prompted the former Marshall Government to commission a review by retired judge Paul Rice, who described the department’s reporting of abuse as a “mess”.

Under questioning by SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo this morning, Taylor and Ward refused to provide details about how the girls and their children were now faring.

They said they believed the girls had contact with their children, but they did not confirm whether they had custody.

“The two young women who obviously were the focus of commentary a couple of years ago… they raised with us concerns that they were being identified – not by their name, but because of their individual circumstances,” Taylor said.

“I’m not trying to be difficult – I’m really trying to honour the fact that children and young people often talk to us about why their circumstances play out maybe on the front page, or on the tele, or on the radio, when that’s not the experience for other children and young people in society.”

The committee’s chair, Liberal MLC Heidi Girolamo, asked Taylor whether she would prefer to provide evidence in camera to answer Pangallo’s questions, but Taylor declined.

“I think even in camera we wouldn’t go into the personal circumstances of the two young women,” she said.

Taylor said girls who become pregnant while they are in state care often worry about what will happen to their child, particularly if they have experienced abuse or neglect.

She said the department ensured that girls were “well prepared” leading up to birth and beyond.

“If we can work with mums-to-be and their families prior to giving birth, then we can actually… achieve better outcomes for children and young people,” she said.

Ward added that the circumstances of each girl was different and there was no standard approach to how the department responded.

“For some young people they are 17 and their partners are 17 and they are in a relationship and they are pregnant,” she said.

“Some young people, they might have entered care and the reason they’ve entered care is because they were sexually assaulted – usually by a family member and are pregnant.

“What we will do is assess every case on its merits and understand about what the capacity is of the young person at the heart of what we’re talking about – the soon-to-be parent – their capacity to safely care for a child.

“That’s what we do for every family.”

Earlier in the committee hearing, Taylor denied that she was pressured by Premier Peter Malinauskas or Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard to resign.

She said after over six years in the role, she made the individual decision to quit in January.

“Over Christmas, I took the opportunity to think about what did 2023 look like and I was conscious that come October of this year it would be seven years that I’d been in the role,” she said.

“I’ve been a public servant for coming up to now 23 years and five to seven years is a suitable time to be a chief executive.

“This is a Cathy Taylor it’s time decision.”

Latest Department for Child Protection data shows on December 31 there were 4810 South Australian children in care – up from 4740 on June 30.

But Taylor said the growth of children in care has slowed.

“It was two years ago more than seven per cent, in the last year it was sitting at just over four per cent as an annual point-in-time to point-in-time figure,” she said.