The death of another child is again raising questions about the New South Wales child protection system and the number of caseworkers available.
Relatives of Tanilla Warrick-Deaves claim that during her brief two years of life they made 33 reports about her welfare, but no action was taken.
The girl's mother yesterday pleaded guilty to her manslaughter and will be sentenced later this year.
It comes just weeks after the mother of Kiesha Weippeart pleaded guilty to murdering the six-year-old in August 2010.
Government figures, obtained by Fairfax, show there has been a fall in the number of full-time caseworker positions at NSW Family and Community Servicesand that only one in four children deemed to be at risk are likely to undergo a safety check.
The opposition's Linda Burney says the freeze of filling positions must be lifted immediately.
"It's not a difficult equation - do you want to keep children safe or save money?" she said.
"Caseworker positions are deliberately not being filled when they become vacant, a fact that the world knows but (Family and Community Services Minister Pru Goward) continues to deny.
"The minister is putting budget savings above children's safety. Minister Goward in my view has misled the parliament and the children of New South Wales."
Pru Goward insists there has never been a freeze.
"I wrote to the director-general a few months ago and said I want all frontline caseworker positions filled," she said.
"We are actually seeing more children today than we were two years ago when we came to office, which is at about the time Tanilla died.
"The number of children we now see, whilst still not good enough, it's 27 per cent of all children who are at risk of significant harm.
"When we came to office it was 21 per cent."
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