After months of silence, former Education and Child Development chief Tony Harrison speaks to InDaily about the trials of reforming the controversial agency in the midst of a royal commission inquiry – and fresh challenges in his new role overhauling the state’s disability services regime.
“A brand new agency”. That’s what Acting Premier John Rau says recently-hired child protection CEO Cathy Taylor will find when she jets in from Queensland and finally gets her feet under her new desk at the end of next month.
The Department of Education and Child Development was trumpeting the success of its internal reforms, highlighting improved performance and morale, only days before Premier Jay Weatherill relented to split the sprawling agency in two, citing the need for a “fresh start”.
The Weatherill Government has been forced to abandon its long-held and dogged commitment to retaining a child protection agency within the broader Education Department, after the Nyland Royal Commission recommended the “establishment of a new department committed to the care and protection of children”.