Parts of child protection budget left unspent, as Parentline scrapped

Victoria will underspend on its child protection workforce budget by $19.6 million this year despite demand increasing between 9 and 15 per cent over the year.

At the same time, parent counselling hotline Parentline is set to be closed as of October 31, which the public service union says will put extra pressure on the child protection system.

Leaked internal briefings, obtained by The Age, show Victoria will not spend $19.6 million of its planned budget for its child protection workforce in 2025-26, with the money to be moved around to other areas of the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing such as support and training and housing initiatives.

The projected figure has been calculated by assessing how much was spent in 2024-25, accounting for one-off expenses such as backpay for enterprise bargaining.

But the same document also notes that the child protection system is “experiencing significant demand pressures” with the number of reports, investigations and substantiations of claims increasing by between 9 and 15 per cent over the last year.

It was recommended the $19.6 million go towards other department priorities that could assist children in need. This could include additional staff to handle new reports but may also go towards other programs such as implementing the recommendations of the Yoorrook Justice Commission or housing initiatives for young people leaving care.

Ultimately, the department’s budget and finance committee will decide where the money is reallocated to.

Although the child protection workforce has been bolstered over the last decade, burnout and staff turnover remain significant issues that place pressure on the capacity of staff. In the March 2025 quarter, about 15.6 per cent of cases were still waiting to be allocated.

Community and Public Sector Union secretary Jiselle Hanna said the child protection and family support system were at breaking point and the underspend figure highlighted structural issues that needed fixing.

“We call on the Victorian government to implement early interventions – like funding Parentline and reversing the cut – and immediately hiring more intake staff,” she said.

“The inefficiencies and red tape that stop child protection staff from doing their important work need urgent repair; our members are ready to help design and implement these solutions.”

The union is also concerned that the imminent closure of Parentline will put further pressure on the system.

Hanna said Victoria would be the only state or territory without access to Parentline when it closed, and that the service had an inexpensive budget of about $1.3 million.

“The Allan Labor government should retain, fully fund, promote, and move Parentline under a department that recognises its value and knows how to manage this service,” she said.

The government says the hotline will close by October 31. However, staff have been informed the service could stop taking calls as soon as October 1.

The state argues that since Parentline was created, there are now other services available for parents and carers, such as the early parenting centres and the 24/7 Maternal and Child Health Line.

A government spokesperson said Victorians using the hotline will be supported during the change and informed about alternatives.

“Our priority remains keeping children safe and families strong – that is why families continue to have access to a wide range of services that support parents, carers and children across Victoria,” they said.

CPSU lead industrial organiser Magda Akkerman, who has a decade of experience working within the child protection system, disputed that other services would be able to pick up Parentline’s work and said the closure would put more pressure on the department.

She said there were more than 138,000 reports made to child protection in the 2023-24 financial year and more than 41,000 investigations performed across about 2600 practitioners.

“That’s pretty extraordinary. We have the second-largest number of reports in the country, and the staff in child protection are just threadbare,” Akkerman said.

“Those [Parentline] calls will end up at child protection in some way, shape or form, either as a new report or parents just calling for some assistance.

“I’m really concerned about what that’s going to mean for already overburdened staff.”

Akkerman said as a child protection practitioner she would regularly recommend Parentline to help parents de-escalate difficult situations without having to call the police or department.

“There are parents who might call daily, weekly, monthly, they might call once and never call again. But for that parent that makes a difference in their ability to parent their children safely,” she said.

Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said a Coalition government would restore Parentline if elected in 2026.

“Services like Parentline provide the accessible and practical support that can make a world of difference to families in need,” she said.

“Cutting such a low-cost, yet vital service for families while pressing ahead with a ‘things cost what they cost’ attitude to major projects demonstrates how Labor’s priorities are all wrong.”

The May state budget included $14 million to continue programs that assisted frontline child protection staff.

It comes as the Allan government prepares its response to a review into public service inefficiency by Helen Silver, which was handed to the state in June. Frontline cuts have been ruled out.

That review probed ways to reduce the share of workers in public service back to pre-pandemic levels, finding double-ups that can be streamlined and consolidating agencies.

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