Public Sector Employment Commissioner Erma Ranieri will step in as acting chief executive of the Department for Child Protection in a full-time capacity from tomorrow.

Department of Premier and Cabinet chief executive Damien Walker will take over Ranieri’s commissioner responsibilities while she is on secondment.

The shuffle comes after the state government launched a global search to replace current Department for Child Protection chief executive Cathy Taylor, whose last day in office is today.

“The government will announce a permanent chief executive for the Department for Child Protection in the next two weeks,” a government statement said.

“The government once again thanks Ms Taylor for her service.”

Taylor resigned in January after serving six years as chief executive.

During her final months in office, the state’s child protection system was thrust in the spotlight following the deaths of six-year-old Munno Para girl Charlie Nowland and seven-year-old Craigmore boy Makai Wanganeen, with police earlier this week charging two adults with their alleged manslaughter.

Both deaths sparked public outcry, leading to a review by former police commissioner Mal Hyde, and a commitment by Malinauskas to conduct urgent welfare checks on about 500 South Australian children who were identified as living in “extremely vulnerable” situations.

Taylor faced sustained questioning over her department’s involvement with the children’s families and its processes for dealing with at-risk children.

Her department was also the subject of a review by child protection expert Kate Alexander, which was commissioned following the April release of a coronial inquest into the murder of siblings Amber Rigney, 6, and Korey Mitchell, 5.

Taylor told a parliamentary committee in February that she was not pressured by Premier Peter Malinauskas or Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard to resign.

“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.”

Opposition child protection spokesperson Josh Teague said there was “only so far that you can spread the talents of Erma Ranieri across the public sector”.

“Erma Ranieri is well known and highly regarded – there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“It is not Erma Ranieri’s job to go from overseeing the recruitment process of this important appointment… it’s not Erma Ranieri’s responsibility to then step away from that recruitment role and take on the reins herself,” he said.