Child protection workers in New South Wales say their industry is in crisis and it's putting children in danger.

Workers started a month-long strike on Thursday 11 April as a response to persistent issues such as low wages, burnout, and understaffing. 

The Public Service Association (PSA) said that action will begin with a series of rolling stop-work meetings across the state and escalate as necessary. 

While it is not yet clear whether child protection staff across the western plains will join their city counterparts, their union (the PSA) will be sending representatives to the region in coming weeks.

Child protection workers are demanding that Minister Kate Washington and the Minns Government immediately recruit an additional 500 case workers, give caseworkers a substantial pay rise and de-privatise foster care. 

The union hopes to increase awareness about the impact the industry's shortcomings are having on children and caseworkers. 

"The life trajectories of a child go into a downward spiral. They tend to be out roaming the streets and getting into trouble," former child protection worker Tom Hooper said. 

Hooper was a child protection worker for eight years, covering towns including Walgett, Cobar, and Bourke. 

“Case workers have just been used up and overworked,” Hooper told the Coonamble Times. 

He resigned from his job three years ago to join the union and improve the industry for children and case workers. He said he will be visiting Coonamble in the upcoming weeks to meet with local child protection staff.

Hooper recounted one instance where a case worker from Nyngan made a 6 hour round trip to see a child that needed level 1 care. Level 1 care means that the child is at serious risk and needs to see a case worker within 24 hours. The child, in this case, did not see a case worker until two weeks after the call was made. 

When child protection workers are unavailable, community services can send police to check up on the child's welfare, according to Hooper. 

"That is nowhere near adequate to ensure the safety of a child the way home visits do," the former child protection worker said. 

“If they’re not getting casework done, the family is not being helped, chances are they’ll wind up in the justice system. And that can lead to incarceration so, the cost to society is a lot greater.”.

One in four child protection staff are in their first two years of employment with the department, according to the PSA.

Hooper said that the average case workers stays 14 months in their role before they decide to leave, "It takes a couple of years to become a good caseworker."

He says the lack of qualified staff leads to the needs of at-risk children being neglected.

More than three quarters of children reported as at risk of harm from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023 received no visit from child protection workers, according to the PSA. 

PSA General Secretary Stewart Little.

While information on vacant positions in western plains offices of the Department of Communities and Justice was not available, data that was supplied showed that the vacancy rate for Western NSW, Murrumbidgee and Far West was around eight percent.

In the final quarter of 2023, 23 of the 279 full-time equivalent positions were vacant in these areas. 

“People in child protection don’t take action lightly, they know how important every single minute of their work is. But they just can’t go on as the system crumbles around their ears,” PSA General Secretary Stewart Little said. 

"To not act now would be a massive failure."