Residential care to explode by $500m amid under-budgeting claims

The cost of Queensland’s residential care system will explode by $500m, amid claims of extreme under-budgeting by the former Labor government.

Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm (front) with Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber

The cost of Queensland’s residential care system will explode by $500m, amid claims of extreme under-budgeting by the former Labor government.

New department analysis found the cost of running the state’s residential care system – which oversees the care of children and teenagers who can’t live with their parents – would likely reach $1.1bn by June 30.

It is a $500m increase from the $658m budgeted by the Labor government in June, Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said.

Ms Camm argued the former government had failed to provide the cash needed to run the under-pressure system.

She revealed the $658m budgeted by Labor would be spent by early March and likely reach “more than a billion dollars” by June 30.

The revelation will put pressure on the state government’s election promise to reform the sector and deliver more funding.

There were 2093 children living in residential care in Queensland as of September 30, with each one costing the state about $1360.

New figures reveal 683 children aged under 12 were living in residential care facilities as of September 30, a 381 per cent increase since June 30, 2015.

An increasing number of children and infants placed in residential care prompted a review of the sector to be launched in July 2023.

Ms Camm said the government inherited a “broken system” failing to protect children and the community.

“The evidence shows Labor’s road map for residential care was on a road to nowhere,” she said.

“The extreme under budgeting, along with the sheer increase in the number of young people who are now living in residential care, especially those under 12 is a disgrace.”

In September the LNP pledged to boost the number of child safety officers by 20 per cent, mandate two carers work at residential care facilities and develop a professional foster care program for children with complex needs.

It has also promised $1500 for each child for sport, music or tutoring.

Labor, at the time, labelled the policy “undercooked and underfunded”.

Ms Camm said she had spent five weeks meeting stakeholders and frontline staff about the government’s plan to reform the sector.