DHS has implemented a risk management strategy in relation to the unallocated cases in the child protection system.

There are two issues in relation to the strategy ‚Äö?Ñ?¨ the first is that DHS is not funding extra staff to manage the workload associated with the unallocated cases and the second is that the system itself requires existing child protection workers to provide the relevant information and monitor the system - there are no extra staffing resources being provided to do this work.

Hence an already overloaded system is having further stress added to it.

CPSU is concerned that this system is a sham - while appearing to start to address the workload for the unallocated that sat with team leaders it actually does not do so because there are no extra child protection staff being provided to do the work.

CPSU is advising child protection members at all levels that they must manage up workload issues in writing.

All child protection workers must ensure their supervision forms clearly outline their workload issues, cases they have not been able to visit etc. If workers are not receiving formal supervision it is advised that you document this issue in email to your team leader and unit manager.

Team Leaders must ensure they also provide, in writing, information to their unit managers indicating tasks they have not been able to complete on the unallocated cases and supervision they have not been able to provide due to workload issues.

Unit Managers must ensure they also provide written records with the data collected for the unallocated cases in their units as to the tasks that have not been able to be completed due to workload v lack of staffing resources available to complete required tasks etc.

Government and Child Protection Senior Management must take responsibility for the level of risk that the children, whose cases are unallocated in the child protection system, are exposed to. This responsibility can no longer sit with workers, team leaders and unit managers. It is the government who hold the purse strings and it is DHS senior management s responsibility to ensure the government is informed as to the current state of crisis that the Victorian Child Protection system is in due to the lack of staff to meet the workload demands in the system.