CHILD PROTECTION WORKER FACES 17 CHILD SEX CHARGES, NOW WA DESERVES ANSWERS

A former WA Department of Communities employee who was publicly recognised for excellence in child protection is now facing 17 child sexual offence charges involving allegations spanning more than a decade.

But for WA in Focus, this story raises a question extending far beyond the criminal case:

How could someone entrusted with vulnerable children allegedly offend while working within the very system designed to protect them, and were there opportunities to detect a problem sooner?

Barry Wayne Lawrence, 39, was initially charged in August 2025 over allegations involving a teenage boy between 2022 and 2025.

Further charges followed.

In March 2026, police laid eight additional charges relating to the alleged sexual abuse of another teenage boy in April 2012, including four counts of sexual penetration of a child aged over 13 and under 16.

Then in May, another five charges were laid relating to allegations involving two teenage boys during 2013.

Police have said the alleged offending occurred while Lawrence was employed by the WA Department of Communities, the government agency responsible for protecting some of Western Australia’s most vulnerable children.

Less than a year before the first charges became public, Lawrence had been recognised at WA’s inaugural Child Protection Excellence Awards, receiving a partnership award in September 2024 for his work as an Aboriginal Practice Leader in the Mandurah region.

His involvement with young people extended beyond an office.

Publicly available material previously identified Lawrence as being involved in youth football programs, camps, cultural programs and activities involving children in care and other young people in the Peel region.

Following the original charges, the then Child Protection Minister confirmed Lawrence’s Working with Children Check had been revoked.

The Department previously said that because criminal proceedings were underway it would not comment specifically on the matter, adding that the safety and wellbeing of children remained its highest priority.

But criminal proceedings against an individual and accountability for the system surrounding the individual are two different issues.

QUESTIONS NOW NEEDING ANSWERS

WA in Focus believes the public (particularly families whose children came into contact with government child protection services) are entitled to know:

🔹 Has Communities undertaken a complete review of Lawrence’s employment history and his contact with children and young people?

🔹 How many children and young people did he have direct access to through his employment, programs, camps and associated activities?

🔹 Have those children or their families been contacted following the charges?

🔹 Were any complaints, concerns, boundary issues, disciplinary matters or unusual incidents recorded during his employment?

🔹 If concerns existed, when were they first raised and what action followed?

🔹 What screening and ongoing suitability assessments were undertaken during his employment?

🔹 What additional scrutiny occurred before Lawrence was appointed to positions of greater responsibility?

🔹 What checks were undertaken before he was selected for a Child Protection Excellence Award in 2024?

🔹 Did the award assessment process examine complaints, disciplinary records or safeguarding concerns?

🔹 When did senior executives within Communities first become aware of the police investigation?

🔹 Has an independent safeguarding review been commissioned, or is the Department reviewing its own systems?

🔹 Most importantly, has the Department established whether any warning signs were missed?

The charges against him remain allegations and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until proven guilty.

But the presumption of innocence does not prevent legitimate scrutiny of the government systems responsible for keeping vulnerable children safe.

When a person entrusted with child protection faces allegations relating to multiple children across different periods (including allegations police say occurred while that person worked for the child protection agency) the public interest question becomes unavoidable.

➡️ Were the safeguards strong enough? And if something was missed, WA families deserve to know what has changed to stop it happening again.

WA in Focus will be seeking responses from the Department of Communities and relevant authorities regarding the safeguards, oversight and review processes surrounding this matter.

If you or your family had contact with programs involving Barry Lawrence and have information you believe is relevant to the broader safeguarding issues raised by this story, you can contact WA in Focus confidentially.

⚖️ Barry Wayne Lawrence has been charged but has not been convicted of the offences discussed in this report. All allegations remain to be determined by a court.