Queensland child safety: Report finds improper action in 18 deaths

QUEENSLAND authorities failed to properly act in every one of 18 child deaths examined by a damning Coroner’s Court review into child protection.

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AUTHORITIES failed to properly act in every child death examined by a damning Coroner’s Court review into child protection, raising questions of how many could have been saved.

The failings have been laid bare in the Coroner’s Court of Queensland’s annual report, which found shortcomings by the department, police, health, education or non-government agencies in every one of 18 cases probed by its Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Unit.

“In all cases subject to a review by the unit there were shortcomings in the identification, assessment and response to risk indicators prior to the death by individual practitioners and agencies,” the report said.

With the benefit of hindsight, multiple agencies had information that could have given a better picture of the risk a child was at and better informed interventions, it said.

The report covered the 2015-16 year, during which the high-profile deaths of Tiahleigh Palmer and Mason Jet Lee thrust mistakes by authorities to the fore and led to major and ongoing reforms by the Government.

Cases examined were not named, but included homicides, suicides, those where a child had a severe disability or illness and accidental deaths where issues of neglect may have been present.

The report found there was an over-reliance on self-reporting, a lag in information sharing and “an inability to understand or respond to patterns of abuse over time or cumulative harm” that prevented agencies from intervening earlier.

“This is particularly salient with respect to the long-term impact of childhood exposure to domestic and family violence, irrespective of whether the child was physically hurt during a reported episode of violence,” it said.

“This limits the capacity of formal services to intervene, and prevent these types of deaths.”

Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman said it was reassuring that the review of historical cases had identified measures the Government was already acting on.

She referenced improved information sharing, joint child safety and police investigation teams and family violence specialists working with frontline child safety staff.

“We owe it to the families and loved ones of these children to review and learn from each of their tragic deaths,” she said.

The unit also found problems with the recognition of at-risk women who were later killed by their partners.

Of 23 domestic and family violence related homicides, there was a history of violence and abuse in the majority of cases, “as were opportunities for intervention by services and agencies prior to the death”.

The death of Caboolture toddler Mason Jet Lee was a high-profile child safety case.