Conversations around austerity can sometimes feel quite nebulous or abstract. Some people don't even think it's real that it never happened.

Of course there are many professions where they can offer concrete examples, explanations of what austerity meant I'm thinking nurses

doctors firefighters teachers

today's guest absolutely falls into that category, but the area in which they worked for decades

is often neglected in conversations around austerity, namely child protection.

Theresa Thornhill is a barrister.

She's written a memoir.

It's a great book, In Harms Way, the memoir of a child protection lawyer such an extraordinary insight for my money into

something we all care about but no too little in regard to.

Every once in a while a story will come out of nowhere,

a tragedy invariably, of a child who's been let down by the system. So what does child protection mean? Are we protecting

children adequately? How do things go wrong and how can we improve the system?

To raise a Thornhill, welcome to Downstream.

Thank you.

I am so looking forward to this conversation.

I read your book. You asked me just before we began

this and you, did you read it? We always read the books here on downstream. It was very

difference, the kinds of thing we normally discuss here on our media, but a huge interest I think and will be hugely informative to our audience.

It's a memoir of a child protection lawyer. Let me get it in shot. In harm's way.

Child protection.

I think people watching or listening will have some understanding of what that is.

Can you just briefly go over child protection Services and what your job or your series of jobs were over several decades?

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