Appalling result of gutting social services

Children removed from families in NSW are being forced to sleep on the floors of child protection offices.

The revelations have been slammed as “appalling” by the general secretary of the Public Service Association, Steve Turner. They reveal the depths of a punitive, grossly under-resourced and racist system in crisis.

“There’s now a shocking amount of children being put up by FACS [Department of Family and Community Services] offices overnight”, Turner told media in Sydney in the wake of the latest case of neglect and abuse perpetrated against children by an Australian government.

“There are no beds in there. It’s a government office and it’s not appropriate and it shouldn’t be happening. The worker has to stay with them.”

The blame for yet another blatant violation of the rights of children in Australia lies squarely with the NSW government. For decades, social services have been stripped back while poverty and disenfranchisement of sections of the working class and poor have been worsening.

Children, families, kids and adults with disabilities and chronic health problems, drug and alcohol problems and specialised learning and mental health needs are being thrown to the wolves.

On top of that, premier “Casino Mike” Baird has been shutting down women’s domestic violence shelters and slashing funds to homelessness services, meaning children are more likely to be removed from parents who cannot find safe accommodation.

These children are far more likely to be Aboriginal. The rate of removal of Aboriginal children is 400 percent higher than when Kevin Rudd “apologised” for the Stolen Generations.

The result of gutting support, while at the same time implementing vicious neoliberal policies, is increasing social violence and deprivation.