Suicide now killing more young Queenslanders than cancer, harrowing data reveals

The number of children known to child safety dying in Queensland hit a record 72 with major concerns expressed by the state’s Family and Child Commissioner.

Suicide is now killing more young Queenslanders than cancer harrowing new data has revealed, with Queensland’s Family and Child Commissioner saying more must be done to stem the scourge.

Ambulances were also called more than 160 times for kids aged between just five and nine-years-old who had self-harmed or attempted suicide in the past year.

In 2022-23 446 Queensland children aged up to 17 died – including 72 known to child safety – with suicide now the leading cause of death for children aged between 10 and 14 for the first time over a five-year period.

Queensland kids known to child safety were four times more likely to die from external causes than the rest of the state’s children – rising from 69 last year, and 53 the previous year.

Twenty of the sixty-seven Queensland children who died from external causes took their own life, and while that was the same as last year – and slightly down from 2020-21 – QFCC

Queensland Family & Child Commission’s Luke Twyford said the data was troubling.

Commissioner Luke Twyford said the trend was moving upwards, and he was troubled to see it emerging in the younger age brackets.

“I am concerned by the data relating to suicide, which has become the leading cause of death in children aged 10 to 14,” he said.

“More needs to be done to understand and support the mental health needs of children and young people, and we need to educate the community on how to better respond to young people in crisis.”

The QFCC report also reveals there were more than 9300 ambulance call-outs for suicidal behaviour or self-harm-related incidents among children in Queensland last financial year – including more than 160 for children aged 9 years old and under.

But the highest-risk group was young girls aged 15-17-years-old – who accounted for more than a third of all call-outs – while the greatest increase was for girls aged 10-14, who recorded a 67 per cent increase over the five year period.

The number of children known to child safety dying in Queensland hit a record 72 – the highest number since reporting measures changed in 2014-15.

The report found while the population of children known to the child protection system had increased over the past five years, “this growth does not fully account for the increase in child deaths observed in the last two years”.

Minister for Child Safety Charis Mullen said the death of any child was a tragedy. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Child Safety Minister Charis Mullen said “the death of any child or young person is a tragedy”.

“While the number of deaths in these reports is never easy to accept, there are multiple causes behind them, including natural causes and external causes,” she said.

“In the past few years we have put in place a robust, two-tier, statutory-based child death review process that focuses on a whole-of-government protection system.

“This includes the Child Death Review Board, which commenced on 1 July 2020 and is responsible for thorough system reviews following the death of a child known to the child protection system.”

Queensland’s Child Death Review Board investigated 60 deaths – some which occurred outside the last 12 months – and identified five areas for whole-of-government improvements and made six recommendations.

These included assessing the safety of children registered for home schooling, reappraising the response to youth crime and youth justice, more research on the needs of First Nations communities and strengthening child safety practices with regards to parental substance abuse.

Concerningly, almost half of the deaths investigated involved children aged under one-year-old, with a high proportion exposed to domestic and family violence, and substance abuse.

“All Queensland children deserve to be loved, respected and have their rights upheld,” Mr Twyford said.

“This is true regardless of a child’s living circumstances or upbringing, and the work of the board tells me there’s more to be done to protect Queensland children, especially those who become involved in the child protection system.”

Ms Mullen said the government would “continue to invest in intensive family support services to help parents safely care for their children”.

LNP child safety spokeswoman Amanda Camm said it was “alarming” 72 children had died while under the care of child safety.

“That is 72 young people who will never have the chance to grow up. That is 72 young people whose lives have been extinguished in a system that failed them,” she said.

“The child safety system has been broken by a government with the wrong priorities, which has failed to resource and run the system that should protect our most vulnerable children.

“Shockingly, the mortality rate for children known to child safety is almost double the Queensland child mortality rate.”