Queensland government appoints Victorian judge to probe abuse of vulnerable state wards

Fixing Queensland’s failed child safety system is as much about protecting the community as it is about protecting vulnerable wards of the state, the Premier says.

Queensland Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm announces details of the commission of inquiry with Premier David Crisafulli looking on. Picture: David Clark

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Queensland Premier David ­Crisafulli has linked youth crime to a “broken” child-safety system after announcing a judicial-style inquiry into the mistreatment of vulnerable wards of the state.

The Liberal National Party leader said there was “no coincidence” that juvenile offending had climbed at a time when the 2212 children in residential care in Queensland were being subjected to unacceptable rates of sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

“This is about compassion and about strength,” Mr Crisafulli said on Sunday, unveiling details of the inquiry by recently retired Federal Court judge Paul ­Anastassiou.

“Compassion for kids in care and strength to keep the community safe when things don’t go right … it’s as much about keeping the community safe as it is about giving kids hope.”

Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said commercial operators profiting from at-risk children were on notice that the government would not tolerate them taking advantage of the ­failed $1.2bn industry that had sprung up around caring for wards of the state.

In one case, a private company was paid tens of millions of dollars to care for vulnerable children but siphoned off more than $5m to its three owners last ­financial year.

Ms Camm at Queensland Parliament House, Brisbane. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Ms Camm has ordered a ­forensic audit into the unnamed company, which also increased its management fees by 1000 per cent, prompting her to accuse “unscrupulous people of lining their pockets as children in care languish”.

In another instance, taxpayers were paying $2.6m annually to look after just one teenager with particularly complex needs.

There will also be an examination of rules allowing unlicensed operators – subject to very little oversight – to care for vulnerable children who are removed from their homes for their own safety.

The latest figures from ­December last year revealed there were 12,497 children in ­government-funded care in Queensland – including 4173 in foster care, 6112 in kinship care, and 2212 in residential care. In this last cohort, 116 were aged five or younger.

While the number of children in foster care has remained ­relatively steady over the past decade, the demand for kinship and residential care has exploded in the same period.

In June 2015, there were 8415 children in government care, of whom only 663 were in residential care. Of the remainder, 4204 were in foster care and 3548 were in kinship care.

The strain on the budget from residential care has also increased exponentially. In 2014-15, the ­service cost the state $200m; this financial year, the cost is forecast to hit $1.12bn.

Temporary placements, including at hotels, for vulnerable children amount to a rapidly growing industry, costing the budget $82m in 2014-15 but $766m this financial year.

The LNP government is focusing the inquiry on the past decade, from former Labor premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s election in early 2015.

But major changes in the system occurred as early as 2013 – under then LNP premier Campbell Newman – after a child-­protection inquiry headed by future chief justice Tim Carmody made major recommendations for an overhaul.

The Carmody inquiry warned even then that the cost of ­government-funded privately provided out-of-home care was rapidly growing, forcing an enormous blowout in the overall child protection budget.

Ms Camm said the government had uncovered systemic failures in the six months since it was elected in October, ­prompting the “extraordinary step” of calling the commission of inquiry.

Judge Anastassiou had been brought in from Melbourne to ­ensure the proceedings were fully independent.

Paul Anastassiou KC, who will head the Queensland Government Commission of Inquiry into Child Safety

“We have only scratched the surface of neglect, disarray, and morally questionable actions of some of the people and organisations that operate in the out-of-home care system,” Ms Camm said. “The former Labor government created this billion-dollar residential care industry that has traumatised children and devastated communities in its wake. Their egregious lack of oversight allowed this to happen.”

She said there needed to be more scrutiny on how taxpayers’ money was being spent.

A census of children in care taken last year showed 22 per cent had attempted suicide, 44 per cent were harming themselves, 51 per cent had a diagnosed or ­suspected disability and 40 per cent had a diagnosed or suspected mental illness.

Ms Camm said 11 per cent of the children in care had been ­sexually abused, 46 per cent had been physically abused and 83 per cent had suffered ­emotional abuse.

The government says almost a third of children in care are not being properly treated for their mental health issues and 20 per cent were not getting sufficient care for their disabilities.