360 Degree View of the Child

Having the right information at the right time helps us to make good decisions about children and their families.

That’s why we’re reforming our child protection case management systems to achieve better outcomes for children, families and communities.

These reforms will automate access to information about children we know may be at risk of harm, and their close connections - information that is currently available to us through manual processes. These changes will improve responses and streamline the process for sharing information we currently obtain during child protection inquiries and investigations.

Background

The Northern Territory Government (NTG) has always shared information between agencies to ensure the best outcomes for children that are in the care or at the attention of Territory Families, Housing and Communities (TFHC).

This information sharing has previously been a manual process, which can mean long delays before the information is available to help child protection workers.

To achieve better outcomes for children and families, we’re introducing new technology to automate information sharing from NTG agencies to TFHC. This technology is called 360 Degree View of the Child (360VoC).

We are required by law to investigate notifications of harm, or potential or suspected harm, to a child and 360VoC will:

• provide us with access to information faster to help assess whether the child has been harmed, whether there is a likelihood of harm in the future, and whether those closest to the child are able to keep that child safe; and
• help improve our responses including through early intervention and prevention services before families reach crisis point.

The 360VoC will meet the needs of TFHC workers, ensuring the right information is available at the right time to make the best decisions about children and their families to keep them safe.

These changes will not broaden the range of information that TFHC can access.

Consultation

The community consultation process about the 360VoC and governance to support this new technology-based sharing of information has now closed.

All submissions are currently under evaluation and review.

The final outcomes of the consultation will be made available on https://tfhc.nt.gov.au/360VOC.