The Child Protection Systems Royal Commission was established in August 2014 to investigate the adequacy of the child protection system in South Australia.
Royal Commissioner Margaret Nyland and her team looked at the laws, policies, practices and structures currently in place for children at risk of harm, abuse or neglect including those who are under the guardianship of the minister.
Individuals and organisations were invited to make a submission and some were asked to give additional information, participate in a hearing, or provide sworn evidence.
During hearings the Commission heard from 381 witnesses including public servants, experts, non-government organisations and foster carers. This included a series of hearings in Mount Gambier and Port Augusta as well as five case studies.
The Commission received 374 submissions, examined 10,800 documents and conducted 74 stakeholder engagements.
Royal Commissioner Nyland made recommendations about improvements to the child protection system in her report which was delivered to the Governor on 5 August 2016.
Child Protection Systems Royal Commission report: 'The life they deserve'
Terms of reference (PDF 164KB)
Download the report in parts
Volume 1: summary and report
- Preface, summary and recommendations (PDF 623KB)
- Part I - Introduction (PDF 360KB)
- Part II - Challenges (PDF 533KB)
- Part III - Children at risk in the community (PDF 1.06 MB)
- Part IV - Children in out of home care (PDF 1.64 MB)
- Part V - Children with diverse needs (PDF 1.36 MB)
- Part VI - System wide changes to improve safety (PDF 556KB)
- Appendices (PDF 214KB)
Clarification:
In Chapter 22: Promoting System Transparency in Part VI: System-Wide Changes to Improve Safety, the third sentence of the fourth paragraph under the heading ‘Child Death and Serious Injury Review Committee’ on page 584 reads:
“Private members receive a retention allowance of approximately $5,600 per year and are paid sitting fees.”
The correct information is as follows:
"Private members are offered sitting fees for attendance at committee meetings only. Some members opt to waive their entitlement to those fees. Government employees do not receive sitting fees as membership is considered part of their substantive employment. The Chair receives an annual retention allowance of $7200.”
Volume 2: case studies
Papers prepared for the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission:
- The effectiveness of Child Protection Income Management in Australia (PDF 424KB)
- The Implementation of Recommendations Made by Independent Child Protection Inquiries in South Australia (PDF 1.94 MB)
- Report on Secure Care Models for Young People at Risk of Harm (PDF 331KB)
- Report on Therapeutic Residential Care (PDF 422KB)
- What makes a good childhood (PDF 672KB)
- What Children Say About Child Protection and Out of Home Care (PDF 1.02 MB)
- Social Work Education Professional Development and Registration - Perspectives, Issues and Implications (PDF 1.26 MB)
- Staffing the Child Protection System - Education Professional Development and Regulation (PDF 246KB)
