Safety case delays risk kids’ lives

MAJOR delays in child safety investigations are putting Queensland kids in serious danger, says an advocate, in the wake of shocking data showing thousands of reports to the department haven’t been finished.

According to a recent question on notice in Parliament answered by Children’s Minister Leanne Linard, almost 5000 investigations were outstanding across the state, and 1140 of those had been open for more than 100 days.

Independent Advocacy Queensland intake officer Melissa Laing said these kinds of delays put vulnerable children at risk of more harm or even death.

“There’s no reason for it. They have to act on it. It’s not acceptable,” Ms Laing said.

“I don’t think it’s ever going to get better.” The document says the number of reports to Child Safety across Queensland in the past year had increased by more than 3000, and more than 8000 since eight years ago.

Of the 31,244 reports in need of investigation for the year ending March 31, nearly 5000 still had not been done.

More than 1100 of those outstanding investigations have been open for more than 100 days.

The shocking data comes in the wake of the Queensland Child Death Review Board’s first annual report for 2020-21 revealing one in 10 of the 398 children who died in that year had been known to the Department of Children.

One of these children was Willow Dunn, 4, who was found dead in her home at Brisbane’s Cannon Hill in 2020.

Opposition spokeswoman for Children, Amanda Camm, said this backlog put more kids at risk.

“The data we’ve seen released is shocking. There are too many children at risk of being left in unsafe situations,” Ms Camm said.

“Over 1000 across the state are outstanding. That is months children have been waiting.”

The grim delays in investigations were spread right across the state, but the southeast region had the biggest backlog.

About 1660 reports to Child Safety were still not finished in the region, with more than 500 of those left pending for more than 100 days as of March 31 this year.

In North Queensland, 714 investigations were not finished, with 209 of those open for more than 100 days.

The Sunshine Coast had more than 600 reports still pending and 65 of those have been outstanding for more than 100 days.

Ms Laing said these numbers painted an accurate picture of what she was seeing on the ground.

She said an “uprising” of mental health issues in young foster kids could also be attributed to the rise in numbers.

A Department of Children spokeswoman said the Covid-19 pandemic had put pressure on the system, but more resources have been sent in to help.

“These teams prioritise cases where there are immediate safety concerns,” she said.

“If they have not been finalised within 100 days, they are monitored through continued information gathering and ongoing triaging to ensure the most significant matters remain a priority and the highest risk is responded to.

“Regions continually monitor their priorities, pressures and demands at a local level and have capacity to redistribute resources, as required.”