The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Shannon Fentiman, today tabled the 2021-22 Annual Report of the Child Death Review Board.
The Child Death Review Board conducts systemic reviews of child deaths that extend beyond reviewing key government agency services to any individual child. The Board can consider matters relating to the provision of services to, and other interactions with, children and their families by government and non-government agencies.
The report makes six recommendations, which government will now carefully consider. These recommendations focus on workforce, continuity of care, responding to domestic and family violence, promoting the safety of infants and unborn children, and promoting the safety of children with a disability.
"This is an important report from the Queensland Family and Children's Commission and I thank them and the Child Death Review Board for their ongoing oversight of our systems working to keep children safe," the Attorney-General said.
"I would also like to acknowledge the incredible work done by the dedicated front-line staff across various agencies that work every day to keep children and families safe.
"The death of a child under any circumstances is tragic, and I acknowledge the impacts the loss of a child has on families and communities. We will always look to make any improvements we can to strengthen this system and prevent future deaths.
"I am pleased that in the report, the Board acknowledge Government actions and strategies relevant to the recommendations it has made, however, we can always do more to improve our systems.
Minister for Children, Leanne Linard, said the Palaszczuk Government was committed to systems reforms and keeping Queensland children safe.
"We continue to implement significant reforms across the whole of government to strengthen the safety net for vulnerable children and families at risk of entering the system," Minister Linard said.
"Child protection is everyone's business, and the Palaszczuk Government has worked continuously to improve all aspects of the child protection system since 2015, including establishing the Child Death Review Board in 2020."
"Queensland's robust, two-tiered child protection death review process requires all agencies involved with a child in the 12 months prior to their death to review their service delivery. They must provide their findings to the Child Death Review Board for its independent consideration."
"The Government announced $2.2 billion in this year's budget for out-of-home care services to keep children safe and respond to increasing demand in the child protection system, through additional staff, early intervention, and supporting young people to successfully transition out of care."
The Attorney-General noted that as Government implements the wide-ranging reforms of the Women's Safety Justice Taskforce, better ways of working together to support families impacted by all forms of violence and abuse are being identified and implemented.
Investment in programs, services, and strategies to address domestic, family and sexual violence now exceeds $1.3 billion since 2015.
The Government also tabled the QFCC's Annual Report Deaths of Children and Young People, Queensland, 2021-22, which provides Government and NGOs with valuable insights into the data and trends surrounding child deaths to help inform better policymaking.
Both Minister Fentiman and Minister Linard thanked the QFCC for their tireless work and their dedication to keeping Queensland children safe.
