Queensland child safety: Ice replaces alcohol as drug scourge

A NEW scourge placing Queensland children at risk has emerged, with warnings the worst is yet to come.

Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman calls the figures ‘deeply distressing’.

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ALMOST half the children in foster care have been taken from parents on methamphetamine, with its use now more common than alcohol abuse, new child safety figures show.

Shocking Child Safety Department figures released last night reveal the worrying ice trend has escalated in the past year as more and more children are reported to authorities.

A whopping two-thirds of parents who have taken ice did so for the first time in the past year.

And a departmental study found the figures may be far higher, with its report warning rates of substance misuse could be higher as some parents may successfully conceal drug or alcohol problems from departmental staff.

Forty-four per cent of families where children had been found in need of protection had parents taking some form of methamphetamine, like ice.

About 30 per cent were misusing alcohol and the same amount used marijuana. Some parents used more than one drug.

It comes as nearly 1200 extra cases were referred to authorities by people who had noticed signs of some kind of abuse or neglect in the year to September 2016, with 22,787 families red-flagged. About 33 per cent were substantiated in 2015-16.

Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman called the drug use figures “deeply distressing” as advocates said the trend was sadly not a surprise.

“When I travel Queensland and meet with hardworking child safety officers, they are telling me this is a growing issue for their already challenging work,” Ms Fentiman said, adding that testing was in place so drug users didn’t get their children back.

Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston said the news was “horrendous” and put the fault with “irresponsible parents”.

“They are prioritising their hit above their children and they have to question their ability as a parent,” she said.

“If they can’t prioritise the best interests of their child, they should hand them over for adoption to someone who will.”

Meanwhile, Ms Fentiman said investigation times had improved for the first time in three years as national figures released today show 2015-16 was the worst year for investigation commencement times since 2011-12.

Opposition child safety spokeswoman Ros Bates claimed leaked October data showed the performance of the system was actually worsening.

“Shannon Fentiman can spin the numbers but whichever way you look at it, more at-risk children are not being seen to within the required 24-hour time frame,” Ms Bates said.