Kylie Lang: Willow Dunn deserved so much better

Cracks in our child protection system have become chasms, and throwing money at the problem is no longer enough to keep these avoidable tragedies from happening, writes Kylie Lang.

Willow Dunn deserved better.

So much better.

Instead, she is another victim of a broken system in a society that continues to fail its most vulnerable.

The innocent four-year-old was found decomposed in her Brisbane cot this week, with deep sores exposing her bones. Police also allege she was kept isolated from the world, starved and left to die.

Willow’s father, Mark James Dunn, has been charged with the girl’s murder under the extension of the definition of the crime to include reckless indifference to human life.

Her stepmother, who lived in the house with her own children and allegedly told police Willow was not her responsibility, has not been charged.

Willow Dunn and her father Mark Dunn, who has been charged with murder. Picture: Facebook

When the Bent Street property quickly became a crime scene, neighbours were shocked. They apparently didn’t know the child existed.

The panic alarm was also raised at the prestigious Cannon Hill Anglican College, whose primary campus fronts the same street, and within hours of police arriving at the scene, parents were assured that their children were safe.

What a sad indictment that little Willow Dunn was not safe.

Did no-one outside her family know about her?

The Courier-Mail understands the Department of Child Safety did, but Minister Di Farmer has refused to confirm this.

One thing we do know is the government’s unforgivable record of stuff ups.

As we reported earlier this year, 1554 kids were harmed within 12 months of welfare workers determining they were safe. Tragically, 58 known to the department died last financial year, according to the Queensland Family and Child Commission.

Ms Farmer takes her portfolio seriously and has openly admitted that Child Safety is struggling to meet rising demand. This is despite the hiring of 600 extra staff and a $738 million government spend since 2015.

She acknowledges “there is still much to do”.

Willow Dunn and other innocents are falling through cracks that have become chasms in a ‘broken’ child safety system. Picture: Facebook

Agreed. The trouble is that kids are falling through cracks that have become chasms.

Throwing money at the problem is not enough.

Questions must urgently be asked – and comprehensively answered – about the allocation and effectiveness of resources.

How are staff deciding kids are safe then leaving them in potentially deadly situations?

What risk factors are used to assess these children and their families, and are they aligned with current evidence?

How qualified and supported are staff to do their jobs properly?

And how can members of the public who suspect something is wrong be sure their complaints will be investigated swiftly and thoroughly? Or at all.

Sources close to the department tell me case workers are crushed by an untenable workload.

“We have a system overwhelmed by kids in really dangerous situations and just no staff to do anything about it,” one says.

“It’s not even that staff necessarily do it badly. It’s that they don’t do anything. The whole system is broken.”

Willow Dunn joins a long list of lost children.

In a house in Stafford on Wednesday, two teens were found naked, malnourished and locked in a room after police were called to deal with the death of a 49-year-old man.

Police outside the home where the body of Willow Dunn was found. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Child Safety had visited the boys, after a neighbour reported frequent screaming, but closed the case last year.

In March, an inquest into the 2016 death of Mason Jet Lee heard the Caboolture toddler was rarely seen by DOCS workers and his mother and stepfather deceived their case officers.

Stepfather William Andrew O’Sullivan struck the boy so hard his organs ruptured, then left him to die in agony.

While the abuse of innocents cannot be stamped out in a four-year political term – the root causes run generations deep – that does not excuse inaction or incompetence.

Those at the coalface must be given the tools to do better, and those in charge held to account when the system fails.

Good people should continue to speak up, with full confidence their voices will be heard and their concerns fittingly addressed.

Every child is precious and every life worth saving.

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail.

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