12-year-old failed by staff in state care before alleged Footscray attack

A 12-year-old girl who had been accused of murdering a woman in Footscray was improperly cared for and let down by staff in state care, a scathing new report has revealed.

Police at the former Royal Hotel in Footscray where a woman was allegedly murdered. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Support staff failed to properly care for a 12-year-old girl before she was accused of murdering a woman in Footscray, a scathing new report has revealed.

The Commission for Children and Young People’s annual report, handed down on Thursday, said support for the girl “fell short” and “did not meet her needs” prior to the alleged attack.

The report said several agencies, including the Department of Families Fairness and Housing, hospitals, and Victoria Police, ultimately failed to “reduce the risks” the child faced and posed.

The Herald Sun understands that the girl should have undergone testing to determine if she had been raped when she was admitted to the Royal Children’s Hospital for forensic examination on at least one occasion before the deadly attack, but staff did not administer one.

The 12-year-old was last year accused of murdering a 37-year-old woman inside a Footscray apartment on November 16. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“The inquiry found that while many people and services were attempting to do their best to support (the girl), efforts to meet her needs and reduce the risks (the girl) faced fell short,” the report states.

“At every stage of (the girl’s) childhood, opportunities were missed to disrupt the ever-increasing risk to which (the girl) was exposed, and that she posed to herself and others.

“The inquiry also identified concerns about insufficient access to forensic examinations when (the girl) repeatedly attended hospital outside business hours.

“Simply put, systems – including the out-of-home care, mental health, disability support, policing and justice systems – did not meet her needs.”

Despite spending more than $3m on her care since she was removed from her home when she was about eight years old, the report said the agencies all failed her because of their lack of coordination with one another about different aspects of her care.

The Herald Sun exclusively revealed failings in the girl’s care in December 2023 when whistleblowers working with Victoria’s most vulnerable children described the state care system as a “ticking time bomb”.

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing had fought to keep the details secret.

But the Herald Sun successfully challenged the gag order, with a Supreme Court judge ruling it “inappropriate”.

The 12-year-old girl was last year accused of murdering a 37-year-old woman inside a Footscray apartment on November 16.

But the charge was sensationally dropped after she was assessed for doli incapax — the presumption that a child under the age of 14 cannot be held criminally responsible.

The Herald Sun understands the girl should have undergone a rape kit when she was admitted to the Royal Children’s Hospital for forensic examinationcasion. Picture: David Crosling

The girl, who lived in residential care and had run away more than 275 times, was found covered in blood in the apartment, where a woman was found naked and stabbed to death on the bathroom floor.

She has since been living in a secure care facility that had special fencing erected to ensure she could not run away.

The report said support for children in state care was insufficient “too often”.

“Indeed, these systems are too often not working to meet the needs of Victoria’s most vulnerable children,” it stated.

“Sadly, the inquiry reflects many issues that have been highlighted in the Commission’s past inquiries and that have not yet been sufficiently addressed.”

The report also revealed authorities’ failure to drive down the number of times kids known to child protection had been sexually abused, with at least 190 reports of sexual exploitation in the past year.

The report also revealed authorities’ failure to drive down the number of times kids known to child protection had been sexually abused. Picture: iStock

Of those, 157, or 80 per cent of reports, concerned kids living in residential care.

The commission also received a 30 per cent increase in reportable allegations of alleged child abuse made from various departments.

The majority of those reports were made from schools and early education centres.

“The 1892 notifications of reportable allegations received by the Commission across the year represented a 30 per cent increase on 2022–23, and a 136 per cent increase since the first year of the Scheme, with notifications anticipated to grow further in the coming year,” the report added.

Details of sexual exploitation of kids in care are unclear but there are at least four concerning incidents reported for every instance of outright sexual abuse.

Reports of sexual exploitation do not include instances where children are believed to have secured drugs, food or weapons through engaging in sexual behaviours with someone.

There was an alarming 25 per cent spike in the number of times kids in Child Protection went missing, up from 3,603 instances last year to 4,517 this year.

The amount of times DFFH or residential care staff gave kids the wrong medication also jumped by 70 per cent.

Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn refused say who would accept responsibility in this child’s case.

Ms Blandthorn repeatedly dodged a series of questions relating to the care of the child but conceded they “can do better”.

“Can we better connect services across government to address the needs of children in care? Absolutely we can,” she said.