Commenting on the story: SA Child Protection Department chief quits

That’s the stuff. Blame the manager.

The government has cut them to the bone. Lack of funds make communication with them a problem. Scores of workers have left due to insufficient funds and pay, etc. They are in a mess.

I have had two children with me for several years under their system. No wonder kids have fallen through the cracks. Very much a disappointment, I can tell you. – Graham Bartlett

The whole community, not just a government department, needs to support vulnerable children and their families in small ways (any little kindness would be of help).

All children should be precious to the community, and that should be reflected in health and education policies beginning at the early stages of a child’s life. – Jane Osborne

I’m sad to see Cathy Taylor resign, and wonder if the hounding has hit her tolerance limit. Why does the media demand that child protection agencies “stop child abuse” when they would not expect the police to “stop crime”, because that would be unreasonable.

Sure, the police are part of our efforts to minimise crime, but if a crime occurs do we demand the Commissioner ‘go’? A new head of DCP is unlikely to miraculously make child maltreatment disappear from our society, when the determinants are so complex.

Minimising child abuse involves the heads of several government departments and us all, not just DCP. My wish is for the media to inform itself about child maltreatment with an element of sophistication – beyond shallow headlines. – David Everett

Commenting on the opinion piece: What’s next for lawyers in the wake of COVID?

I read Morry Bailes’ Opinion piece with much anticipation; however this quickly turned to disappointment. Nowhere – in the wake of international flight caps, hotel quarantine and quarantine fees – was there any mention of a renewed commitment by lawyers to upholding the human rights of Australians.

There was a concerning dearth of lawyers ready to fight for the rights of Australians citizens who were locked out of the country during the pandemic, and locked up in hotels when we did get home – not to mention the $3000 charge for our own detention, which was imposed by the states in collusion with the Australian government.

I would suggest that everyone in the legal profession – practitioners and academics alike – should be concerned with how easily our human rights were abandoned in the wake of the Morrison government’s “policy decisions”, and the alarming secrecy around how those decisions were made.

Until there is a Royal Commission scrutinising these decisions, there will be no justice for those of us still traumatised by what the state and federal governments did to us. Make no mistake: this is Robodebt 2.0. – Diane Lee