The walkouts are the culmination of the Child Protection in Crisis campaign that commenced on 8 May 2024, with members throughout NSW participating in weekly lunchtime walk outs across the entire State.

Today, however, members walked off all over the state, with General Secretary Stewart Little holding a press conference at PSA House in the City.

“Today is the start of Child Protection Week’, it’s time for the Government to show that the work being done to support the children and families is valued,” said Mr Little.

During the walkout, members held a statewide meeting via Teams to ratify the decision to take industrial action.

“Only one in five children reported to child protection services as at Risk of Serious Harm (ROSH) are being seen by Child Protection Caseworkers, said Mr Little. “That means four in five kids are unseen.

“One in 10 Child Protection Caseworker positions in NSW are unfilled. On top of this 210 NSW child protection caseworkers – or 9 per cent of the total workforce – are currently absent due to workers compensation claims, mostly due to psychological injury.

 “This represents 19 per cent of the Child Protection workforce.”

The Minister for Community Services, Kate Washington, admitted this week to the Newcastle Herald that “the government’s ultimate responsibilities cannot be outsourced, regardless of who has case-management”.

Mr Little said on Ray Haldey’s talkback show on 2GB on Monday 2 September that the PSA will work with Minister Washington to reform a system too reliant on private providers.