It is required by law in South Australia that there will be a review at least once in each year of the circumstances of each child under the guardianship of the Minister until the child attains 18 years of age (Children’s Protection Act 1993, Section 52 [1]). The review panel, which is convened by Families SA, must consider whether the existing arrangements for the care and protection of the child are still in the best interests of the child.
The Office of the Guardian attends and audits annual reviews to:
- provide further external accountability on review panels
- provide some external scrutiny of case management practice and interagency collaboration
- advocate for quality outcomes for children and young people
The Office is committed to attend at least 12 reviews each quarter, arranged directly with the District Centre Manager. This past year we have attended and reported on almost 24 reviews each quarter (94 in total), conducted in 13 District Centres. This represents 6.6 per cent of the reviews that should have been conducted in the year.
A PDF file of the summary of the Audit of Annual Reviews 07-08 can be downloaded from our website.
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