The Queensland government has commissioned an independent, wide-ranging commission of inquiry into the state’s troubled child safety system. State officials have called the system “broken.” This investigation comes in reaction to those disturbing disclosures. The price of residential care has become exorbitantly expensive and children in the system are living in unsafe, horrific environments. The government has recently developed evidence of significant financial misconduct. This poses disturbing implications for private companies profiting off the care of these vulnerable children.
Queensland’s Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the enormous increase in demand required urgent action. As testified to by a home care company owner, recent data shows that residential care has shot up. They’ve leapt from $200 million in the 14/15 fy to a staggering $1.12 b this fy. Former Federal Court judge Paul Anastassiou KC has been appointed to lead the inquiry. Its anticipated duration is 17 months.
Alarming Statistics on Child Welfare
The reality is grave, with ever-increasing numbers of children flooding into the care system. At present, there are almost 6,112 children in kinship care compared to 4,173 in foster care. On any given day, an alleged 2,212 children are placed in non-secure or secure residential care facilities. The statistics reveal a troubling reality: 40% of children in care have been diagnosed with or are suspected of having a mental illness.
Of these children, many have experienced acute trauma and emotional turmoil. According to the latest reports, 44% have harmed themselves at some time and 22% have tried to end their life. Amanda Camm remarked on the sad state of affairs, saying, “This is about a generation of children that I believe through the information that I have uncovered has been failed by a broken child safety system.”
One of the saddest cases featured in this report focuses on a 13-year-old girl—Harriet. She was placed in to care only two days after birth. Since 2020, her care has cost an astounding $4.5 million. Of that total, $35,091 was directly for her foster care alone. Such figures certainly call into question the efficiency and effectiveness of financial resources being poured into child welfare.
Financial Mismanagement and Profiteering
Against this gloomy backdrop of stagnation and decline, many advocates and stakeholders are raising alarms about mismanagement and profiteering in our nation’s child care system. The Queensland government only recently found this new evidence which initiated this present inquiry. Audits showed that one of those companies paid $5.25 million in dividends to three shareholders during the most recent fiscal year.
Camm criticized this practice, stating, “That is a company profiting from vulnerable children. That is a company that has taken advantage of a broken system.” The inquiry will look specifically at the financial business models utilized by these companies. It will consider the impact of these practices on the wellbeing of children in foster care.
Luke Twyford, a representative for child welfare advocacy, emphasized the importance of the inquiry, stating it must “compel action to deliver on reforms already recommended in the many inquiries, reports and inquests.” The civil rights community anxiously awaits real results from this long drawn out and expensive investigation.
Calls for Reform and Support
There is a growing consensus among officials and advocates that a fundamental rethink of the child safety system is necessary. Director of the Tom Allsop Foundation, Tom Allsop stressed early intervention and prevention for supporting families in those crucial formative developmental years. “If we’re serious about addressing the issues in the child safety system in Queensland,” he stated, “we need to start by taking early intervention and prevention seriously.”
Shannon Fentiman added that the review should serve as an opportunity to reassess how public funds are utilized to effect lasting change for vulnerable children. She noted, “If we want to actually build a sustainable system that keeps kids safe, we have to be looking at the root causes of why kids are being neglected in their homes and why parents are unable to care for them.”
Camm expressed her hopes for the future of Queensland’s children: “We want children in this state to know there is hope,” she said. “That children can go on to have a good life, that they don’t have to turn to a life of crime, that they won’t be forgotten.
