Ellouisa Brighton Gibson to be investigated by child safety after Harristown fire
A “complete and thorough investigation” has been ordered into the case of a Toowoomba mum following the death of three children in a suspicious house fire.
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Queensland’s Child Safety Minister has ordered a “complete and thorough investigation” into the case of a Toowoomba mum who remains under police guard in hospital following the death of three children in a suspicious house fire.
The Saturday Courier-Mail revealed mother Ellouisa Brighton Gibson, 36, had used multiple names in different states, with interstate welfare authorities not alerting Queensland of her past.
This publication has been told Ms Gibson had histories in Victoria, South Australia, NSW, Northern Territory and West Australia. However, she did not have any welfare history in Queensland and it’s understood authorities here were unaware of her past because they weren’t notified, which was further complicated by her using multiple names.
Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm on Saturday revealed she had instructed her department to “undertake a complete and thorough investigation into this case”.
“The loss of three lives in Toowoomba is a tragedy and my heart goes out to the family and the community,” she said.
Ms Gibson remained in a critical condition in hospital on Saturday, after the fire at her family’s Harristown home on Wednesday, which claimed the lives of three of her children, aged 4, 7 and 9.
Her partner escaped the fire and tried to get the children out of the home, police said.
Detectives are investigating whether the children had fuel poured on them before the house was set alight. No charges have been laid.
Authorities can access Connect 4 Safety, a national information sharing platform which advises of interstate contact. But this tragedy has raised questions about national reporting obligations when a person or family moves interstate.
Multiple interstate departments would not comment about what information would be generally provided when a person moves to another state, or could not respond before The Sunday Mail’s deadline.
But authorities in South Australia said they were committed to working with all states and territories to ensure child protection information was shared in a timely and effective way.
A spokesman for Queensland’s department said they “only request or receive information about a family when we have been notified of child protection concerns or there is an active, ongoing intervention with a family”. “If a notification is made from another state or territory, we access Connect 4 Safety,” the spokesman said.
Police are investigating any interactions they had with the Gibson family. The Sunday Mail understands police were called to a domestic violence incident involving the family about six years ago, but had no interactions in recent times.
Originally published as Ellouisa Brighton Gibson to be investigated by child safety after Harristown fire
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