Uniting Communities believes that the protection of children is everyone’s business. Whilst much of the recent public focus has been on shortcomings of our child protection authorities, any lasting improvement will require much more than reform of these systems.

Uniting Communities submission to the Royal Commission into Child Protection Systems calls on a complete re-think into how child protection is tackled in South Australia.

Based on input from practitioners and staff from across the organisation we have proposed a range of reforms developed around four core changes. These include a stronger focus on building the capacity of families to care and protect children, services built and delivered at a local level, more clearly defined roles and responsibilities for all agencies involved in child protection, and better structures to facilitate the voice and advocacy of children and young people’s interests.