Mason Lee investigation finds Child Safety staff ‘should have been sacked’

An investigation has found the disciplinary action taken against Child Safety employees who “completely failed” toddler Mason Jett Lee was “manifestly inadequate” and some should have been sacked.

An investigation has found the disciplinary action taken against Child Safety employees who “completely failed” tragic toddler Mason Jett Lee was “manifestly inadequate” and some should have been sacked, but nothing more can be done now.

The Queensland Public Service Commission released its review into the officers whose actions were slammed in the inquest into the death of Mason last year.

Chief executive Robert Setter said while no one person was responsible for his death, the collective impact of individual actions had dire consequences for the little boy.

“The discipline taken against those employees was in no way proportionate to the seriousness and extent of their failings, which when combined completely failed Mason,” Mr Setter said.

“It is the opinion of the Commission review that the discipline imposed at the time was severely inadequate.

“In the most significant cases, some employees should have had their employment terminated.

“We would have expected that some other officers would have received a reduction in pay, and others demoted.”

Mason Lee suffered terribly before his death, and his suffering was not detected or acted upon sufficiently by Child Safety.

Mr Setter said the PSC’s review had been thorough and it had taken the time to understand all legal options available with the assistance of Crown Law and the Crime and Corruption Commission.

It found that despite interrogating all possible avenues, there were no legal grounds to further discipline any public service employee.

A statement said the Queensland legal system provided protection against double jeopardy so that people cannot be disciplined for the same thing twice, even if the original punishment was lenient.

“In short, it is not legally possible to take further action against any of those employees who had already faced discipline,” Mr Setter said.

“Those employees whose actions most significantly failed Mason are no longer working for the Queensland public service.”

One manager - referred to as Manager 1 - had not been previously disciplined, but the PSC agreed with the department’s Ethical Standards Unit that legally there was no grounds to discipline that person.

Senior department employees that had escalated concerns regarding insufficient resourcing and workplace culture at the Caboolture Child Safety Service Centre had followed proper process and also had no case to answer.

The PSC has recommended the Child Safety Department make significant changes to its discipline process, which it had done.

“In addition to the changes the department has initiated themselves, for the next two years we have insisted the department receive independent advice from Crown Law on all discipline processes,” Mr Setter said.

“This is to provide greater confidence around discipline and to improve and build the capability of employees.

“The Commission will also review the department’s discipline decisions regularly during this time to ensure appropriate standards are being met.”

Five of eight frontline officers identified received a reprimand, one officer received a “post-separation discipline declaration”, stating that they would have been demoted had they remained at the department, and two officers left the department having received no discipline action.

The investigation found each officer “performed their duties carelessly, incompetently or inefficiently”.

“It is not possible to understand the rationale of the department decision makers that supported such lenient disciplinary action being imposed,” the report said.

For the discipline process, no formal briefing notes or advice given could be found and disciplinary letters provided to the frontline officers “do not contain reasoning that adequately supports why more serious disciplinary action was not taken”.

It found post-separation disciplinary action could not be taken against those who have left the department as that needs to be taken within two years.

The investigation found the actions of two frontline officers “arguably amounted to misconduct” and both could have been sacked.

However, both left the department.

A deputy director-general, who has also since left, could have been disciplined over their failure to ensure appropriate disciplinary processes.

“Had DDG1 remained an employee of the department, or another government agency, consideration could have been given to commencing a discipline process against them in relation to their decision making in the discipline processes,” the report says.

The report said the director-general should have been consulted over the disciplinary processes given the gravity of the circumstances surrounding them, but it was not clear if they had been.

Opposition child protection spokeswoman Amanda Camm criticised the release of the long-awaited report “late on a Friday afternoon”.

“The facts are harrowing,” she said.

“The fact this report was released after the Premier’s media conference late on a Friday afternoon proves the Labor government believes this is a political problem, not a child safety problem.

“We will examine this report in detail and ensure the Labor state government can’t hide from honest Queenslanders on this issue.

“There must be accountability.

“We owe it to Mason Jett Lee and the other children who have died on this government’s watch since we first learned how badly the system failed the 21-month old boy.”

The State Government has accepted the recommendations made by the PSC, with Children Minister Leanne Linard conceding the department did not meet Mason’s needs.

Director-General Deidre Mulkerin said the quality of their work “fell below the standards that we expect of ourselves”.

Asked what the point of the PSC’s review was, Ms Linard said it was to ensure there was public confidence in the system.

Ms Mulkerin said about 21 staff had been involved in Mason’s case, from taking a phone call through to close case work with the family.

“The CSOs who were directly working with the family at the time, mostly they have left,” she said.

“Some others have moved onto other roles and some are no longer in direct frontline roles.

“It’s a mix.”

Manager 1 is still employed by the department however is not in a frontline role.

Ms Mulkerin said the PSC had found there was no case for her to answer to now.

The Minister said the department had learnt a lot “through this experience” and it has been “understandably a painful experience for people who are called in their professional lives and act everyday to protect childrens’ interests”.

“It has been very laid bare in this respect that we failed and so I think that it is not true to say anybody got off scott-free,” she said.

“I think that it has had a profound personal impact on everyone who was involved and we have seen across the community that it has affected everyone.

“I would say to the public that significant change has occurred in this department.

“The department always welcomes the transparency and light to be shone on when things are wrong because the work is too important to not continuously learn and improve.

“These are children, vulnerable children.”

Ms Linard said Queenslanders could have faith in the system while saying since Mason’s death, significant changes had been made to strengthen the system.