‘Blood on their hands’: Informer exposes Cairns Child Safety failure

Startling claims of a departmental culture that prioritises “bums in bed” payments ahead of child safety has been levelled against Cairns-based residential care houses.

STARTLING claims of a departmental culture that prioritises “bums in bed” payments ahead of child safety has been levelled against Cairns-based residential care houses.

Teen prostitution and drug use within youth residential care homes has been exposed by a former Child Safety whistleblower in explosive allegations of nepotism and workplace toxicity within a department that’s failing the region’s most vulnerable.

Allegations have come to light following the death of 14-year-old Bradley Smith, understood to be placed in residential care by the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services.

The whistleblower has intimate knowledge of high level operations within the Cairns Child Safety department. She has come forward to expose an alleged failure to deliver on reform recommendations made by a Child Protection Commission of Inquiry headed by Tim Carmody in 2013 and can now be directly linked to an escalating youth crime situation.

The scene of a fatal traffic crash at Manoora, where an allegedly stolen Toyota Yaris left Pease Street near the Saltwater Creek bridge and crash into a tree. Denise Weazael of Manoora lays some flowers at the scene of the crash. Picture: Brendan Radke

“They have watered down the recommendations,” she said.

“We became toothless tigers and it ended up not being what Carmody intended.

“I won’t stop until there is an inquiry into not only the toxic culture (at Child Safety) but also (its) practices.”

Typically when a child is in need of care due to parental death or incarceration the first point of contact is other family members to take responsibility for the child.

“Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they are just making decisions and I bet my bottom dollar Bradley would have been a classic example of where there would have been minimal family input into his life,” she said.

“Child Safety are so stretched, they have got nobody to do this. They don’t do the kin work. So the next step is to make a referral to their internal placement unit.”

The number one recommendation of the Carmody inquiry accepted by the government was for “families and communities (to take) responsibility for protecting and caring for their own children.”

Bradley Smith., 14, was killed after an alleged stolen car slammed into a tree on Pease St, Manoora on February 14, 2022. Picture: Facebook

She said said despite the Carmody reform there was a heavy focus in Cairns on an expensive residential care model, known as resi homes, that typically places 2-4 children in a house with one overnight carer.

Residential care costs the state government almost $320,000 a year per child on average and ranges between $800 and $1200 per child per night, according to Child Safety.

“Resi care is a failed model,” she said.

“There’s that many resi workers that just come and go, because they are assaulted.”

Third party residential care providers secure funding based on the number of children in care, known as “bums in beds,” which means often kids are not immediately reported as being absent from the home.

Bradley Smith was declared dead at the scene, and 5 other children aged 12 to 15 were taken to Cairns Hospital with injuries on Monday, February 14. Picture: Brendan Radke

“They scrimp and scrape and save money from kids not being in their beds. The department pays big bucks and they pay it per night,” she said.

“Organisations are reluctant to report a kid missing from placement because that’s not a bum in bed and they don’t get paid.”

The whistleblower said drug use was common and she had heard of teen girls prostituting themselves for ice while in the resi care system.

“It’s rife and Child Safety knows it,” she said.

A child safety whistleblower has lifted the lid on what’s happened behind closed doors in the department.

And if incidents get escalated beyond the immediate stakeholders, police are informed weeks later.

“Something like that’s disclosed by a young person, it’s reported up by a youth worker, but by the time it’s reported at that top level, it’s too late,” she said.

“Child Safety doesn’t report on themselves when the kids are abused in care.

“They deal with it in-house but they will involve the coppers if things get really serious to cover their own arse”

A Child Safety spokeswoman said “absent from placement without permission” differs from missing.

“Regardless of the order or care agreement the child is subject to, if a child in out-of-home care is missing, immediate efforts are required to locate them.”

Four children remain in Cairns Hospital after an alleged stolen car crashed into a tree on Pease St. Picture: Brendan Radke

However, the department wouldn’t be drawn on how long it took to kick off a missing child search or criminal activity within resi care.

“And may not require a report to the police if the child is absent and their whereabouts are known.” she said.

A department damage control effort sent Child Safety Minister Leanne Linard to Cairns on Thursday following the death of a child in the care of the state.

At the core of what the whistleblower describes as a broken system is a department that furthers the careers of workers through “inherited positions” rather than being earnt on professional merit.

Sadly the former Child Safety worker said Bradley Smith was a victim of a system that had failed its prime directive.

“They have got blood on their hands,” she said.

“He was looking for belonging and love in all the wrong places and he found his place with Indigenous kids.”

Following the Pease St crash two 15-year-old boys, one 14-year-old boy, and one 14-year-old girl remain in a stable condition. A 12-year-old girl is believed to have been discharged.

Originally published as ‘Blood on their hands’: Informer exposes Cairns Child Safety failure