Inquiry launched into the care 12-year-old state ward charged with murder
An inquiry into the care of the 12-year-old girl charged with murdering a 37-year-old woman has been launched by the Commissioner for children.
Police & Courts
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A major inquiry has been launched into the horror case of a 12-year-old state ward charged with murder.
The child was in state care when she allegedly stabbed a 37-year-old woman to death in Footscray last November.
Sources familiar with the case have told the Herald Sun the 12-year-old girl had been “running wild” while in care for years.
Now the state’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Liana Buchanan, has launched an inquiry into the girl’s care.
Victorian legislation allows the Commissioner to conduct inquiries about the safety or wellbeing of an individual.
But it must be limited to the services provided, or not provided, to the young person.
“There has been enough in the information provided to me and in the information that I’ve seen in the media, that I have initiated an inquiry, and we’ll look at the responses to that child,” Ms Buchanan told the ABC.
The inquiry is expected to run alongside a criminal prosecution of the 12-year-old.
It comes as Ms Buchanan said she received 125 reports over the past nine months relating to child sexual exploitation.
Shadow Minister for Child Protection, Roma Britnell, said more needed to be done to address failings in the state’s child protection system.
“Once again we have a shocking wake-up call about the exploitation occurring to the state’s most vulnerable,” she said.
“Labor claim to be spending more on child protection. The fact is, they are spending less per child. But there are more children in the system, so Labor is pulling the wool over Victorians’ eyes and misleading our community by saying they are increasing funding.”
Ms Britnell last year failed in a bid to establish a comprehensive inquiry into the child protection system, with the government blocking the move.
“We cannot continue to allow horrific instances of abuse to occur in the State’s care system, with children being exploited, criminalised and sexually abused, or dying in care,” she said.
“Labor should reconsider this decision as a matter of urgency.”
Ms Britnell said spending per child had decreased from $91,468 in 2017-18 to $84,446 in 2022-23
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