ANMF Welcome Support of Child Safe Action
30 September 2022
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) Tasmanian Branch has welcomed the Tasmanian Governments swift action and support of the Child Safe Governance Advisory Panel recommendations.
The recommendations were made to achieve the implementation of critical child safety reforms and commence the necessary organisational renewal with a dedicated focus on the senior executive leadership structure of the Launceston General Hospital (LGH).
The ANMF is acutely aware of the widespread distress and trauma that the Commission of Inquiry has caused and brought to light, as well as the calls for immediate action to allow for critical governance and leadership renewal to ensure that child safety improvements can immediately proceed.
The ANMF will continue to support members during this time and through the upcoming period of change and renewal. The recommendations of the Child Safe Governance Panel include:
- That the current joint position of Chief Executive North/North-West be replaced by two distinct senior executive roles in each region, and that the position of Chief Executive North be created and advertised, with the recruitment process to focus on appointing individuals with experience in leading organisational renewal and driving the organisation-wide cultural change;
- That the Director of Allied Health should sit at the second tier of the LGH executive structure, and that the Executive Director of Nursing position be retitled Executive Director Nursing and Midwifery to properly reflect its professional accountabilities;
- That a simple and concise protocol and flow chart communicating relevant contact points be developed immediately to provide staff at the LGH certainty about how to report child safety concerns;
- That due to the size and complexity of the LGH, full-time resources for child safety liaison are required. A dedicated Child Safe Unit is to be established to support the education and referral processes for mandatory reporting at the LGH; and
- That the key executive management responsibility for ensuring oversight of child safeguarding at the LGH be clarified as a matter of urgency, and that the Child Safe Unit report to this executive position.
‘There is no doubt that much more needs to be done to safeguard children across Health and the ANMF support the ongoing work of the Child Safe Governance Panel.
However, this first critical step to safeguard children at the LGH and across the Tasmanian Health Service is a vital one to provide a strong foundation upon which future reforms can be built’, said ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary, Emily Shepherd, today.
‘The support shown by the Tasmanian Government for immediate implementation of the Child Safe Governance Panel recommendations, in conjunction with further announcements today, is very much welcomed and hopefully will pave the way for implementation of many more positive reforms, with child safety at their centre.’
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Media contact:
Emily Shepherd, ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary
Mobile: 0400 884 021
Email: Emily.Shepherd@anmftas.org.au