- The Crisafulli Government releases landmark Commission of Inquiry report into Labor's broken child safety system.
- Inquiry analysis found around 67 per cent of reported incidents of sexual abuse involved those placed in residential care.
- Report reveals Queensland has almost as many children in residential care as every other state and territory combined.
- The Crisafulli Government to consider sweeping reforms to make Queensland safer and restore the State's child safety system.
The Crisafulli Government has released the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into Labor's broken child safety system.
The report has delivered bombshell findings that Labor's reliance on residential care has left vulnerable children exposed to abuse and neglect.
The shocking report lays bare the scale of the crisis inherited by the Crisafulli Government, revealing Queensland's billion-dollar residential care system exploded under Labor at enormous financial and human cost.
Key findings of the Commission of Inquiry report include:
- Commission analysis of critical incident reports found approximately 67 per cent of reported incidents of sexual abuse of children in care involved children placed in residential care.
- The number of children and young people in residential care surged by 229 per cent from March 2015 to March 2025.
- The residential care system had been skyrocketing under Labor and was set to peak at nearly 3,000 children – more than all other states combined.
- The annual cost of residential care escalated sharply under Labor, rising from around $300,000 per child in 2019-20 to approximately $500,000 per child in 2024-25.
- The former Labor Government repeatedly failed to make timely and sustained investment in family-based care and early intervention, contributing directly to the explosion in residential care placements.
- Not one child has been adopted from State care in Queensland since 2019.
The Crisafulli Government is carefully considering the report's 52 recommendations and has already commenced work to support this.
To drive this work, a Cabinet Sub-Committee has been established to oversee the strategic consideration and implementation of the report's recommendations and to finalise the Crisafulli Government's response.
The Sub-Committee will ensure a coordinated whole-of-government approach to deliver meaningful reforms and identify a clear pathway to improve child safety outcomes, after a decade of decline under Labor.
Alongside the Commission of Inquiry, the Crisafulli Government has taken swift action to fix Queensland's broken child safety system including launching the professional foster care pilot, providing $1500 vouchers for foster and kinship carers, and saving the jobs of frontline staff.
Work is also continuing to roll-out reform including the State's first SecureCare facility, a dual-carer model in residential care and increasing the child safety frontline workforce by 20 per cent.
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for Integrity Deb Frecklington said the report exposed the shocking consequences of a decade of neglect and failure under the former Labor Government.
"Queensland's child safety system was failing the very children it was supposed to protect," the Attorney-General said.
"The Commission's findings are deeply concerning, particularly the evidence that a significant proportion of reported sexual abuse incidents in care involved children placed in residential care.
"The Crisafulli Government established this Inquiry because Queenslanders expected action, and vulnerable children deserve better.
"We will carefully consider every recommendation alongside the Child Death Review Board's In Plain Sight report, as we work to rebuild a child safety system focused on protection, accountability and better outcomes for children and young people."
Minister for Families, Seniors and Disability Services and Minister for Child Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Amanda Camm said the report spoke to the blatant disregard the former Labor Government had for some of the most vulnerable children in Queensland.
"The findings lay bare the scale of the crisis we inherited, with vulnerable children failed by a system that became increasingly reliant on residential care instead of supporting families and carers," Ms Camm said.
"The Crisafulli Government will continue to take action to fix Labor's broken child safety system, restore respect for foster and kinship carers, and rebuild a child safety system that puts Queensland children first."
The Child Safety Commission of Inquiry Report can be accessed here - https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Tabled-Papers/docs/5826T0845/5826t845.pdf
