Millions of dollars for misinformation: Life Without Barriers called out

Life Without Barriers has been unable or unwilling to provide the state government - which funds the organisation - with accurate and timely information about the kids in their care.

Over the past five years Life Without Barriers, which was founded in Newcastle, has received about half a billion dollars in funding.

Data obtained exclusively by the Newcastle Herald reveals that out-of-home care funding to Life Without Barriers has increased more than 25 per cent in the five years to the end of July, 2023, from $88 million to $111 million.

However on Monday, Life Without Barriers was named and shamed in a NSW Parliament Budget Estimates hearing for providing false information about an Aboriginal family desperate for help.

The Department of Communities and Justice, on behalf of Minister Kate Washington, had asked for details about the family's plight last year in response to complaints, but were provided with heavily misleading details instead.

The mother had gone to Greens MP Sue Higginson saying she had concerns about her children's welfare. She did not know where they were, or whether they were receiving appropriate care, having no contact with them or their carer.

Life Without Barriers told the department, and the minister, the mother was receiving regular updates, including phone calls, text messages, FaceTime sessions and photos, and that mum had a strong and constructive relationship with the children's carer.

None of that was true.

RELATED:

That followed on from a judgement published in the Children's Court which highlighted another case in which inaccurate information was provided.

In that case, the department repeatedly went to Lifestyle Solutions for information about two boys in their care, who were staying in a hotel and skipping school because they were too cold and too hungry.

Life Without Barriers was also heavily criticised for its involvement in that case.

Ms Washington said it was a common occurrence, and a new process had since been put in place to address it.

"We put a new process in place to track the timeliness and accuracy of information we were seeking from non-government providers," Ms Washington said.

"It's regrettable that we had to put a process in place to try to track what we were getting back, but it proved to be important because it did show that there was a significant problem.

"Since we had that process in place, I think it's about 100 per cent, almost all of the information that we were getting wasn't either accurate-and about close to 90 per cent was significantly lacking in information."

Life Without Barriers has refused to be drawn on the issue, saying in a statement it was "It is not appropriate for Life Without Barriers to comment publicly on specific matters related to children in care and their families".

"Life Without Barriers works diligently to respond to formal requests for information from the Department of Communities and Justice and the Minister in an accurate and timely way and we will continue to do so," the statement said.

When asked how the government was now managing or ensuring that private providers' funding was being well spent, Ms WAshington said she has asked herself the same question.

"The Auditor-General has been conducting an inquiry into expenditure in child protection, in particular using their "follow the dollar" powers," Ms Washington said. "

A draft of the final Auditor-General's report was due in March, Ms WAshington said, while a report from the Advocate for Children and Young People would also soon be finalised, and an Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal review was also being undertaken this year.

Deputy Secretary of Child Protection and Permanency, Simone Czech, told Budget Estimates that, since the issue of misinformation had been identified, the department was providing the minister with a quarterly report on the number of complaints, any trends, and the quality and timeliness of non-government organisations' responses.

"The Minister referenced ... a number of complaints for December and January, and there were 23 in total," Ms Czech said.

"One hundred per cent of those complaints needed a rework, which meant that either the response didn't answer the question at hand or the quality was poor."

The department was also working with the peak body, the Association of Children's Welfare Agencies, and their members about their expectations, and to provide resources, Ms Czech said.