OPPOSITION MOVES TO HOLD CHILD PROTECTION MINISTER TO ACCOUNT

The Opposition will move a motion in State Parliament expressing grave concern at Child Protection Minister Jessica Stojkovski’s handling of serious adverse findings about her Department in the Children’s Court judgment JAH and ADH v The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities and Others [2026] WACC 2.
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Shadow Minister for Child Protection Nick Goiran said a week of questioning in Parliament had exposed serious concerns about the Minister’s response to the judgment.“

The Minister has admitted she has read only parts of a judgment containing serious criticism of the Department she is responsible for,” he said.

“The Magistrate found the Department’s cultural plans were ‘inadequate and largely meaningless rhetoric’, contained ‘motherhood statements and hopes’, and had ‘no active plan to enrich and develop’ a seven-year-old boy’s cultural knowledge and experiences.

“The Court also found that delay worked against the child’s best interests.

“Yet instead of reading the judgment in full and confronting those findings, the Minister has repeatedly pointed to the fact the foster parents’ application was ultimately dismissed.

“The outcome of the application does not erase the serious adverse findings about the conduct of her Department, and the Minister should not conflate the two.”Mr Goiran said the judgment had also exposed serious questions about the Department’s governance and escalation processes.

“The Director General, who was the First Respondent, did not become aware of this significant judgment until I raised it at Budget Estimates 19 days after it was delivered,” he said.

“He was not fully briefed until 24 days after the judgment, while the Minister was not briefed until 42 days after it was handed down.

“That is an extraordinary chain of events for a judgment containing such serious criticism of the Department.

“Our motion calls on the Premier to direct his Minister to read the judgment in full and requires the Government to explain what processes are in place to ensure serious judicial criticism is promptly escalated.”

The motion also calls on the Government, within seven days, to produce a redacted copy of the Minister’s 17 July briefing note and detail what action has been taken in response to the Court’s findings on cultural planning and its recommendations concerning the child’s transition and ongoing contact with his foster carers.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Libby Mettam said the Minister’s answers in Question Time last week had raised more questions than they answered.

“On Tuesday, the Minister admitted she had read only parts of the judgment. By Thursday, she was defending a decision to read only what she considered the ‘relevant parts’,” she said.

“This is not about asking the Minister to publicly discuss confidential details about a child. It is about whether a Child Protection Minister has properly scrutinised serious judicial criticism of her Department.

“The Minister says she is satisfied with work undertaken to address ‘some of the issues’ identified by the Magistrate. If that is the case, she should be able to explain what has changed.“

West Australians expect the Child Protection Minister to examine serious criticism of her Department and ensure failures are not repeated.”

‍Contact: Graham Mason 0419 194 792