CASEWORKER vacancies have dropped during the first quarter of this year to the lowest rate in four years, according to the latest data that comes at the end of a tough couple of weeks for Port Stephens MP and Minister Families and Communities, Kate Washington.
The statistics show that in the three months ending March 2026, the statewide vacancy rate for frontline child protection case workers dropped to 4 per cent, down from 7 per cent at the end of the previous quarter.
The number of children being seen by a caseworker remains low, at 19 per cent cross NSW, and 16 per cent in the Central Coast Hunter region.
In the 12 months to the end of March, more than 16,200 children and young people identified as being at risk of significant harm in the Central Coast Hunter region did not get face-to-face with a case worker.
The minister has come under fire in recent weeks over her handling of payments to a foster carer of almost $40,000, and a later ex-gratia payment of $15,000.
Questions over those payments follow close on the heels of a tragic case in which a child known to the department died by suspected homicide, and a second case where children were placed with a convicted killer.
The foster carer at the centre of the ex-gratia payment issue has close ties to the Labor party, and has worked in roles that have brought her close to Ms Washington's areas of professional interest.
Ms Washington has repeatedly stated she does not know the carer.
The foster carer's work has also brought her close to professional areas of interest to Charlestown MP Jodie Harrison, and with leaders of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.
Ms Harrison made representations to Ms Washington on the foster carer's behalf, in the lead-up to the payments' being more closely scrutinised.
In a statement to the Newcastle Herald, Ms Harrison said it was standard practice for members of parliament to refer constituent matters to the relevant minister, and that she did not have "a personal relationship" with the carer either.
Case management of the young person sat with CatholicCare, and it is understood that the relationship between the foster carer and that agency soured over time.
Public documents tabled in NSW Parliament include a briefing note prepared for Ms Washington from the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) in which consideration is given for an ex-gratia payment for the foster carer.
In March 2021, the young person self-placed with her mother, and then spent time at the homes of her biological mother, her boyfriend, and the foster carer.
CatholicCare Hunter Manning (CCHM) told the foster carer that the payment would end in March, 2021, however, due to a "clerical/administrative error by CCHM" the payment continued to be paid for almost two years, a total of $39,316. It was later ceased in 2023.
The foster carer did not dispute that the young person moved between three homes, but argued the carer allowance should have been paid in any case during the relevant period, because the young person continued to live with the carer part-time, and used it as her principal place of address.
"The district has been unable to ascertain how often (the young person) was staying at (the foster carers') home and there is no evidence or records of the time (the young person) spent at (the foster carers') home," the briefing note says.
The foster carer was authorised with CatholicCare and not the department, creating an issue about whether the costs resulted from "the workings of government" and could create an "unhelpful precedent", the note says.
"The history of this case has some complexity, in that (the carer) has previously been allowed to retain overpayment of a care allowance by CCHM," the note says.
The diocese had sought to recover the $40,000 from the foster carer saying she was not an authorised carer during the 22 months in question and so had not been eligible for the carer allowance.
Ms Harrison made representations on the carer's behalf in September, 2023.
In acknowledgement of the young person spending some time at the carer's residence, and the carer payment being continued due to a clerical error, DCJ recommended it pay the outstanding debt directly to CatholicCare, and that legal proceedings be withdrawn by CCHM
"This was agreed to by the CCHM Executive Director" the briefing note says.
Ms Washington approved the recommendation and signed a response to Ms Harrison in January, 2024. DCJ reimbursed CatholicCare the same month.
In May, the then-chief executive of the diocese, Sean Scanlon, wrote a letter to DCJ outlining concerns the Diocese had about the "unusual set of circumstances".
Mr Scanlon declined to comment on the issue to the Newcastle Herald, but was quoted in a recent Sydney Morning Herald article saying he and other staff at the diocese were aware of the carer's links to Labor and "the whole thing just looked like an old-style backroom deal".
Mr Scanlon now works for Peter Evans Solicitors and Associates. He is suing the diocese for breach of contract following his sudden resignation in February 2025, after 16 years of service.
Mr Scanlon was named on placards carried by some Catholic diocese staff who demonstrated against the diocese during wage negotiations five years ago.
Lisa Tierney, who has been chief operating officer at the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle since 2021, is a former Newcastle Liberal councillor who received a $4000 fine for failing to disclose political donations and electoral expenditure in the 12 months to June 2016.
The fine related to the late lodgement of a statutory disclosure return, after correspondence from the NSW Electoral Commission was sent to a previous address. The statutory disclosure return itself confirmed that no political donations were made.
In departmental advice to Ms Washington regarding the subsequent ex-gratia payment, the DCJ briefing note says the carer was aware that the payment was being ended.
It was noted that the carer asked for three months' notice to reorganise financial commitments before the payment was cut off, and that while the carer was unhappy that the payment was being ceased, it was acknowledged.
"In this situation it may be said (the foster carer) volunteered (their) services knowing that payment would not be forthcoming," DCJ said.
The payment might create an expectation in similar cases that the government would step in to make payments outside the program to cover similar situations involving disputes between care providers and NGOs, the department said.
"In these circumstances ... DCJ would not recommend such a payment. The moral justification is limited."
The ex-gratia payment in question is one of six that Ms Washington has approved since taking office, involving the back payment of care allowances, victims' recognition payments, and payments relating to breach of confidentiality.
The payments varied in amounts from $1500 to $15,000, and were directed to four different jurisdictions, including the Hunter Central Coast, Murrumbidgee Far West, and Sydney.
Ms Washington says the facts of the case warranted an ex-gratia payment to ensure a foster carer was not left tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
"The NGO involved was aware the young person remained living with the foster care," Ms Washington said
"Staff attended the foster carer's home to meet with the young person during that period.
"I was presented with technical and bureaucratic reasons why this foster carer should personally bear those costs. I did not believe that was fair, and I stand by my decision.
"The payment did not provide any special benefit. It simply reimbursed the foster carer for the ordinary costs of caring for a child that would have been paid had the administrative issues not occurred.
"Foster carers open their homes and their lives to vulnerable children. The least government can do is ensure they are treated fairly and not left financially disadvantaged because of failures in the system.
"I do not have any relationship with this foster carer, and the decision was based on the facts of the case alone."
NSW Premier Chris Minns has publicly declared he has faith in Ms Washington's handling of the matter.
It is understood the former minister, Natasha Maclaren-Jones, also made ex-gratia payments during her tenure.
Ms Maclaren-Jones has called for Ms Washington to be stood down after raising questions about the appropriateness of the payments, as well as other DCJ failures under Ms Washington's watch.
NSW Police are reportedly investigating whether cannibalism was involved in the death of a four-year-old boy on the Central Coast who was known to DCJ. The child's 32-year-old mother has been charged with domestic violence murder and refused bail.
In another case, two children were approved to live in the same house as Regina Arthurell, formerly known as Reginald Arthurell, a convicted murderer.
A departmental review found that the safety of the children was not put at the centre of decision-making.
"This is the final straw," Ms Maclaren-Jones said, referring to the foster carer payments.
There was more detail to come, Ms Maclaren-Jones said, with only one of the 11 documents captured by her request so far being released publicly.
