66 dead children, 5400 abuse claims: State’s child-protection system under blowtorch

Victoria’s child-protection department has received 66 reports of deaths of children, most of them younger than two years old, who were either inside or known to the system in the past four years.

Amid refreshed calls for reform, particularly from the Indigenous community, the state government statistics also reveal thousands more complaints of abuse over the same time.

Since 2020, Victoria’s families department has received 66 reports of deaths from children inside or known to the child-protection system.Credit: Adobe Stock

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing data shows there were six reports of “client deaths” made in the most recent quarter of the new financial year, from July to September.

These refer to children who are clients of the family services system. Since January 1, 2020, there have been 66 deaths reported through this process. This includes a jump in reports made in the 2023-24 financial year, when 17 deaths were declared compared to nine in 2022-23.

According to the department documents, the majority of the deaths involved children aged younger than two and include deaths at home or in a hospital such as premature births, sudden infant death syndrome and known medical conditions.

The data also details 5400 allegations of abuse since 2020.

These “major incidents” have trended upwards slightly over the past two years, with between 280 and 320 reports made every quarter. In 2020, these figures never peaked above 250.

Opposition children protection spokeswoman Roma Britnell called on the responsible minister, Lizzie Blandthorn, to “fix the crisis” in the system.

“The highest responsibility of government is the protection of our most vulnerable citizens,” Britnell said.

“The families of children who have died in state care or were known to child protection deserve to know the reasons behind why there have been so many deaths and incidents of abuse.”

A spokesperson for the Allan government said the death of any child is a tragedy.

“The safety and wellbeing of children is at the centre of everything we do,” the spokesperson said.

They said the state government had invested $4 billion in the last five years to strengthen child protection and family services and recruit more workers, including $548 million in last year’s budget.

The spokesperson said it was the biggest investment into care services in a decade and included a plan to enable all young people in residential care to have access to therapeutic supports by 2026.

Landmark legislation also came into effect this year aimed at protecting the best interests of Aboriginal children.

However, Victoria’s child-protection system has come under renewed scrutiny with the Yoorrook Justice Commission, lashing last week’s progress update from the state.

Professor Eleanor Bourke has expressed frustration with the lack of government urgency.Credit: Chris Hopkins

The commission said it was “beyond disappointed” at the government’s response to its report released 12 months ago which had called for significant change, warning ministers might be called back to testify on their lack of progress.

Commissioner Eleanor Bourke said the government’s progress update did not show nearly enough was being done or that it was implementing the findings of the truth-telling inquiry.

“The government has acknowledged that the injustices against First Peoples identified in Yoorrook for Justice are ongoing and require urgent action. There is very little sense of urgency conveyed in this progress report,” Professor Bourke said.

“I have said this before: for an apology to be truly meaningful, it must be followed by action to address what is being apologised for. We are yet to see this action.

“The report says significant structural and systemic reform takes time. We understand this, but there are a number of recommendations in the report that can be implemented immediately that would make a big difference for First Peoples.”

Another report released this week by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare also found that almost two-thirds of young people in Victoria and the nation’s youth justice system had interactions with the child-protection sector within the past 10 years.

It warned that a large proportion of children who offended had a history of abuse or neglect.

Catherine Liddle, chief executive for Indigenous children peak body SNAICC, said the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report showed the system was failing First Nations children in particular.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children are 26 times more likely to be in the youth justice system with prior involvement in child protection, according to this report. With the over-representation of our children in out-of-home care continuing to rise, this is a truly confronting statistic,” she said.

“The interconnectedness of the youth justice and child-protection systems highlights a systemic failure and the strong need for culturally appropriate supports to divert at-risk children from further involvement with child protection and the justice system.

“We need to see more investment in supporting families, preventing child removals, and supporting cultural connections for children who are in care.

“There are very few intervention, prevention or diversion programs that stop a child from being in one system and entering another.”

In May, Commissioner for Children and Young People Liana Buchanan revealed there had been 160 reports of 85 children living in residential care being victims of child prostitution in just one year, including some as young as 11.

Buchanan said young people in this type of care were being targeted by organised criminals, and the system was causing more harm than good.

“When you look at a system where the state steps in and removes a child from family, there’s an obligation on that state to act as a parent and, indeed, under law to act as a good parent. That’s not what we’re doing,” she said at the time.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.