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Hundreds of child safety workers will walk off the job today to protest outside the offices of local MPs, as their union continues to scrap with the government over pay and conditions, and officers complain of caseloads that double the safe amount.
The Together Union, which represents the workers, said more than 100 child safety officer positions remain vacant around the state, and the government has engaged in a quasi hiring freeze.
The union claimed there were also at least 60 youth justice jobs empty.
As of March, there were 2819 children in residential care, a 25 per cent jump from the same time in 2025.
Together assistant secretary Dee Spink said workers were pushed to the brink, and it was taking a toll on the children under their care.
“We keep coming back to the same basic question: how much time does a child safety officer actually have for each child?” Spink said.
“When a worker is responsible for 30 children instead of 16, when experienced staff are leaving and vacancies can’t be filled, and when workers are staying back late because there is nowhere safe for a child to go, children pay the price.”
The workers will strike for 2½ hours on Friday afternoon, carrying blow-up mattresses to MPs’ offices to represent reports of children in state care sleeping on the ground of government offices when they cannot be placed somewhere safe.
The union has been undertaking protected action since early August, and claim they have been left without a clear minister with whom to work through issues, while Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm has been on six weeks of leave.
Finance minister Ros Bates has been backfilling the child safety portfolio during Camm’s leave, but Spink said it was unclear if she had the authority to sign a new deal.
“That is not good enough for a child safety system already under enormous pressure. The mismanagement needs to stop,” Spink said.
“Our members have given the government every opportunity to act before reaching this point. Now workers are going to their local MPs because every MP should understand what is happening in the child protection and youth justice systems in their community.”
The union had previously raised concerns about vacant positions not deemed “key frontline” needing approval from the deputy director-general to be filled.
In particular, Spink said business and administrative roles in child safety centres, key to supporting frontline officers, were being left unfilled.
“These roles are critical to frontline child protections, and they should be treated as critical workers when it comes time to fill them,” she said.
“The department says this isn’t a recruitment freeze, but for some workers it can feel like one.”
A department spokesperson said the plan was part of efforts to balance the books and all vacancies were weighed against workforce needs.
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