15 September 2025
On Friday, Professor Leah Bromfield shared the stage with SA Senior Australian of the Year 2025 Charlie Jackson OAM, an Adnyamathanha man from the Flinders Ranges, and SA Young Australian of the Year 2025 Amber Brock-Fabel for the symposium ‘Protecting Children: The Need for Change’ presented by the Australian Centre for Child Protection, NAPCAN and the Australia Day Council of South Australia.
The symposium was facilitated by NAPCAN Board President Lesley Taylor and also hosted a panel of South Australian Youth Forum members who generously shared their experiences and perspectives on safety: Raghu Vjayan, Sienna Sedgmen, Lachlan Duggan, Holly Wetherell and Abinav Murugappa.
Prof Bromfield highlighted in her presentation the pressing need for change in protecting our nation’s children, including that more than half of SA families referred to the Child and Family Support System do not receive a service, because there are simply not enough services. However, new data from the Department of Human Services shows that more than 90% of children in families who engage in high intensity family support do not enter out of home care.
Current investment is preventing around 100 children from entering care every year. And if that’s not enough, for every $1 spent on family support, the state achieves a $1.90 return on investment – highlighting how effective support for families pays for itself.
As part of her presentation Prof Bromfield also released the ACCP’s call for SA election commitments which you can read here.
Coming Soon! The event was video recorded and will be uploaded to our YouTube channel for you to watch at a later time. We will share the link to watch the symposium via our LinkedIn and email database soon.
