Region’s child safety figures among worst in state

Locally, the department is taking, on average, more than two days to screen reports or sight children in cases that are classed as “24-hour priority”

child safety, child abuse generic

THE South West Region's Department of Child Safety, Youth, and Women is taking, on average, more than two days to screen reports or sight children in cases that are classed as "24-hour priority", a Queensland Audit Office report has found.

While the median time taken to screen 24-hour priority reports in the South West Region was much better at 3.2 hours, and the median time taken to sight a child in the 24-hour priority category was 3.5 hours, those time frames lagged behind all other regions.

The averages and means are derived from five years of data between 2013/14 and 2018/19.

The QAO report found while there had been significant reforms since the Carmody Inquiry report in 2013, "family support and child protection system remains under considerable pressure and the entities need to do more to ensure they and non-government entities work effectively together."

Minister for Child Safety, Youth and Women Di Farmer said her department had accepted or accepted in principle all eight recommendations of the report, and that the implementation of several was already under way.

Toowoomba South MP David Janetzki said the report also showed the south west region was the second worst in completing investigations on time.

"Behind these worrying numbers lies the safety and welfare of our most vulnerable children," he said.

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