Child Abuse Review Panel, Western Australia

A Child Abuse Review Panel was jointly commissioned by the Hon Ministers for Police, Health and Community Services in Western Australia in May 1984. The Panel reported to those Ministers in July 1985. The broad purpose of the Panel was to review systems of child protection in WA, provide specialist advice to child protection workers, and make recommendations for systemic and operational improvement. A key recommendation was that the causes of child abuse be taken into account when designing interventions.

The Child Abuse Review Panel was chaired by the Chief Social Worker at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (PMH) and included senior officers from the Department for Community Services, the Officer in Charge of the Police Department’s Child Care Unit, the Senior Paediatrician from the PMH Child Protection Team, the Superintendent Psychiatrists from the Hillview Terrace Child and Adolescent Unit and the Stubbs Terrace Hospital, and an officer from the Advisory and Coordinating Committee on Child Abuse (ACCCA).

The objectives of the Panel were to:

• Review existing child protection systems and processes
• Assess ‘difficulties in interagency procedures and relationships’ and make recommendations for improvement
• Provide ‘specialist advice’ to ‘workers providing cases to the Panel’ and make that advice and subsequent recommendations available to relevant agencies
• Make recommendations to Ministers regarding operational and interagency guidelines for effective child protection systems and procedures
• Evaluate and make recommendations for a system of mandatory reporting of child abuse.