Calls for adoption of at-risk children following death of Mason Lee

Findings from a coronial inquiry into the tragic death of Queensland toddler Mason Jet Lee have reignited calls for a contentious measure that would force a tectonic shift in how child safety officers respond to vulnerable children.

THE Morrison Government is backing fresh calls for vulnerable children to be removed from dangerous parents and adopted into safer households after the death of Caboolture toddler Mason Jet Lee.

Assistant Children and Families Minister Michelle Landry seized on last week’s coronial findings into 21-month-old Mason’s horrific 2016 death to add pressure onto the Queensland Government to “routinely and genuinely” consider adoption for at-risk children.

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Child protection advocates have labelled the adoption recommendation from the deputy coroner a “drastic option” but the Capricornia MP said it should be a “genuine permanency option” when it was unsafe for children to remain with their “birth families”.

“Child protection systems must have the moral courage to remove at-risk kids like Mason

from dangerous homes,” Ms Landry said.

Assistant Children and Families Minister Michelle Landry is pushing for vulnerable children to be removed from dangerous parents and adopted into a safe, permanent home.

“After all, it is the fundamental responsibility of state and territory governments to ensure that the wellbeing of a child is always the priority in decisions regarding their care.”

The move would require a tectonic shift in emphasis for the Child Safety Department to prioritise a child’s rights for protection above the desire to keep families together.

Deputy state coroner Jane Bentley said the government had accepted a recommendation to consider adoption from a 2013 inquiry into child protection however it was “obvious” they had not implemented it “in any real sense”.

She noted the Child Safety Department’s submission to the inquest into Mason’s after receiving horrific injuries including a ruptured small intestine had urged for adoption to not to be considered but said she rejected that position.

Recommendations from a coronial inquest into the horrific death of Caboolture toddler Mason Jet Lee in 2016 have reignited calls for children to be removed from dangerous parents and adopted into safer households. (AAP Image/GoFundMe)

The New South Wales Government amended its adoption laws in 2018 to make an expectation that children would be permanently placed into adoptions within two years of entering the department’s care.

Of 142 carer adoptions nationally in 2018-19, 136 were in NSW.

Child Safety Minister Di Farmer said the Queensland Government had created an adoption option for at-risk children in 2018 but it required the consent of their parents.

“Every child deserves a forever home and the right to feel safe,” she said.

“We also know it can be heartbreaking for children in need of out-of-home protection to move from one foster carer to another.

“Adoption, with the consent of parents, is available as a permanency option to vulnerable children in out-of-home care when considered the most appropriate alternative for the long-term care and protection of a child.”

Ms Farmer said the 2018 changes to the law recognised a child’s rights to be protected was “paramount” when parents are unwilling or unable to provide appropriate care for their child.

“The Palaszczuk Government recognises adoption is a complex matter and rarely a one-size-fits-all solution for every vulnerable child in need of protection and care out of the home,” she said.