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The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report — A Child-Centred System: A Review and Commentary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2015

Frank Ainsworth*
Affiliation:
James Cook University, Australia. frankainsworth@hotmail.com
Patricia Hansen
Affiliation:
Rogers and Hansen, Sydney, Australia; Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia.
*
*address for correspondence: Dr Frank Ainsworth, Senior Principal Research Fellow (Adjunct), School of Social Work and Community Welfare, James Cook University, Townsville QLD 4811, Australia.

Abstract

In June 2010 the Secretary of State for Education in England asked Professor Eileen Munro, Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics, to conduct an independent review of child protection in England. As Professor Munro says in her third and final report, she: ‘sets out recommendations that taken together, will help to reform the child protection system from being over bureaucratised and concerned with compliance to one that keeps a focus on children, checking whether they are being effectively helped, and adapting when problems are identified.’ This article, which is a selective review of the final report, firstly cites the principles of an effective child protection system and then the principles to guide ‘risk-sensible’ decision-making as put forward in the report. It concludes with the 15 major recommendations of the Munro report and makes some comment and comparisons with recent Australian state- and territory-based reviews of child protection services.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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