A New South Wales watchdog has uncovered systemic failures in how prenatal welfare reports are handled, revealing that over a third of concerns about unborn children were dismissed due to a shortage of caseworkers. Families were also found to have been unlawfully forced into prenatal case management without their consent, raising serious questions about compliance with legal and ethical standards. The investigation highlights gaps in support for high-risk cases, with many not receiving referrals to specialist services because of resource constraints. The findings, released recently, expose broader weaknesses in the state’s child protection system.
Other families have been unlawfully compelled to be case-managed without consent, watchdog findsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMore than a third of all reports raising concerns about the future welfare of unborn children were closed due to a shortage of allocated caseworkers, while families were unlawfully compelled to take part in prenatal case work, the New South Wales ombudsman has found.In its findings after investigating the Department of Communities and Justice’s practice of responding to prenatal reports, which were released on Friday, the watchdog raised concerns about the number of reports about particularly high-risk children that were not referred on to further support services or a dedicated case manager due to a lack of resources. Continue reading...
