AN inability to attract staff to Portland looks like it could lead to child protection services being centralised in Warrnambool.

A leaked plan prepared for the recently formed Families, Fairness and Housing Department, which runs the services in the state, recommends closing the Portland and Hamilton offices and instead running two units from Warrnambool from about mid-April.

The plan, “Wimmera South West Area Management Proposal”, shows 10 vacancies among 20 positions in Portland for child protection staff, with four of seven unfilled in Hamilton and 20 of 31 vacant in Horsham.

In contrast just six of 27 Warrnambool positions are unfilled.

Numerous recruitment initiatives and advertising campaigns have been conducted with limited interest,” the report says of trying to fill the vacancies.

“This is despite the regional financial incentive being offered throughout this process.

“Retention has also been a challenge, with the majority of overseas recruits leaving.

“In addition the job market is competitive, with a number of staff seeking alternate employment.”

Demand for the services in Glenelg Shire appears higher per head of population than anywhere else in the Wimmera South West region – figures in the report show 209 investigations in the shire in the past year, only just below Warrnambool (234) with its much larger population.

In response to the unevenness of cases across the region, and the concentration of filled positions in Warrnambool, a targeted response team was set up in 2021 to work across the region.

A cultural review “identified that the workload pressures and staff shortages within the area were leading to increased unplanned leave, increased work cover claims and excessive overtime hours worked,” the report says.

“The interplay of these issues has led to a large volume of (workplace safety reports) regarding workload and psychosocial impacts being recorded.”

“Currently Hamilton and Portland do not divide their work in the same phase-based manner as the rest of West Division.

“Integrated child protection teams are often faced with the dilemma of completing necessary tasks in case management against the need to undertake urgent investigations.

“This has impacted the throughput of cases in the smaller offices, with a high number of cases not being allocated for a significant period.

“The Portland, Hamilton and Horsham offices have experienced this phenomenon with WSWA having the highest number of children in out of home care without permanent care assessments being completed.

“This proposal seeks to address those challenges by implementing the phased based approach across the whole of the southwest area.”

That would involve redirecting investigations from Portland and Hamilton and creating a second team in Warrnambool – one team there would cover Warrnambool and parts west, while the other would be Warrnambool and east.

It would allow the Warrnambool team to merge with Portland and Hamilton staff.

However, should Portland staff choose to work in the office here, they could, or choose a different location if so desired.

A Families, Fairness and Housing Department spokesman told the Observer that “both the Hamilton and Portland office will remain open, and we would like to reassure the local community there will be no changes to the services provided to them, or any reduction in staff at either site”.

“We thank our staff for the very important and rewarding work they do supporting children and families around the clock.”

There would be no job losses and the Department would not incur extra costs by implementing changes proposed in the document.

Child protection teams were currently faced with uneven demand due to staff shortages and vacancies in Portland and Hamilton, however current caseloads were under the maximum allowable allocation.

State Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell said the changes were “alarming”.

“Children are already suffering as it is,” she said.

“Where have we ever seen an example of centralising systems giving better service?

“It’s a typical cost saving measure but what we will see is less time for practitioners to do their core work, more risk of burn out for workers in an already stretched sector, and potentially devastating outcomes for vulnerable young people. 

“This is treating the symptoms but not addressing the cause. We have had low unemployment in our region for a decade. 

“The government needs to address the housing shortage crisis, child care shortage crisis, and incentivise people to come to the region, not just give up on towns like Portland.

“The … government already has a terrible track record in this sector and we have already seen shocking statistics with 100 children known to the state government’s child protective services dying between 2020-2022.

“By centralising our regions child protection team we risk less personalised care, and these are vulnerable children and families who need more care, not the risk of less care.

“Practitioners will lose hours in their day to car travel rather than spent working with vulnerable clients who need one-on-one support.

“When children are at immediate risks and staff, who are already stretched, are two hours away at “a centralised point”, than this model is destined for disaster.”