Child Death Review Board report says the system ‘appeared ineffective at being able to address or stop further trauma’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA victim of child abuse, who was made homeless after being banned from every Queensland residential care facility, was given a tent to live in by the Department of Child Safety before killing themselves.The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Monday, reports the anonymised case of Alex*, whose gender is also suppressed.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading…Child Death Review Board report says the system ‘appeared ineffective at being able to address or stop further trauma’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA victim of child abuse, who was made homeless after being banned from every Queensland residential care facility, was given a tent to live in by the Department of Child Safety before killing themselves.The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Monday, reports the anonymised case of Alex*, whose gender is also suppressed.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading…
A victim of child abuse, who was made homeless after being banned from every Queensland residential care facility, was given a tent to live in by the Department of Child Safety before killing themselves.
The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Monday, reports the anonymised case of Alex*, whose gender is also suppressed.
The state’s residential care system is a leading theme of the report, including two cases of children who died in care, not including Alex.
At one point, while in residential care, Alex told their child safety officer: “I sit in my room every day and want to kill myself.”
Alex became frustrated at a lack of independence while living in residential care, and was repeatedly kicked out for violence and substance use.
They were finally left staying with what the report calls “adult acquaintances”.
“These adult acquaintances were understood to be adult men who sexually exploited young people in exchange for drugs, money and a place to stay,” the report reads.
At the end of their life, no service would take them in and a child safety officer “provided them with a tent when no other placement option could be identified”. They were homeless for longer than six months before they died.
A child safety report written after Alex became homeless read: “The young person is preoccupied with the thought of where (they) will sleep that night, how to obtain drugs, managing (their) own thoughts in (their) head and if (they) will need to sell (their) body to be sexually abuse(d) in order for (their) needs to be met.”
The board, which is part of the Queensland Family and Child Commission, noted in its report that it had made recommendations for continuity of care for children like Alex in a 2021-22 report.
It recommended the state government nominate a “lead role who will produce quarterly public reporting on the status of this work”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Child Safety said the board had recommended the development of “flexible, specialised care models which will be considered by government”.
“All efforts are made to source appropriate care arrangements for young people in care,” they said.
The child safety minister, Amanda Camm, said the government had committed to a 24/7 dual-carer model in the residential care system, a professional foster care trial and to increase the child protection workforce by 20% by 2030.
“We will consider the recommendations by the board and continue to work towards better outcomes for the state’s most vulnerable children,” she said.
Queensland’s residential care system is by far the largest in the country due to a shortage of foster parents.
Before becoming premier, David Crisafulli repeatedly vowed to reform the system, which he called “the state-sanctioned pipeline of youth criminals”.
The report also considered the case of a young mother whose baby died while living in residential care. She had been identified as at high risk of pregnancy due to her history of poor mental health, substance use, intellectual impairment and sexual abuse, but “the system which existed to protect and care for her appeared ineffective at being able to address or stop this further trauma”.
It also considered the case of a boy who was institutionalised after the death of his only parent. His behaviour escalated while in residential care but care workers believed his anger was directly associated with his grief and “believe if he is supported to work through his grief and loss he will present in a very different way”.
He was moved to a short-term placement, where he did not attend school and spent most of his day unsupervised. He often returned in the early hours of the morning affected by substances, and began offending.
“In the year of his death the boy’s placement was closed after he was away from his placement for three weeks … the youth worker reported concerns for the boy’s safety and wellbeing: he was homeless, had no safe place to sleep, was living out of a cardboard box, had no place to shower, no clean clothes and no food to eat.”
The report concluded: “Ultimately the children and young people reviewed by the board did not have their basic and fundamental needs met. Systems such as health, education and housing were less involved in these young people’s lives than police and justice.”
The report noted that the number of young people living in residential care is increasing. On 30 June 2023, 1,763 children were placed in the system; 312 of whom were younger than 10.
In a 2024 report the Queensland Family and Child Commission noted that as of December 2022, about 7.6% of children involved with child safety were not living at their approved placement, and there was, at that time, no funding for government-run youth homelessness services for young people under the age of 16 who were absent from care.
Fifty-three children known to the child protection system died in 2023-24, compared with 72 in 2022-23 and 69 in 2021-22. Of the 70 deaths considered by the Child Death Review Board, 15 were under one-year-old and 39% were of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander decent.
* Pseudonym used to protect the identity of a child.
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In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
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