Background

The Queensland Government has been transforming the state’s child protection and family support system to help families care for their children and make Queensland the safest place in Australia to raise a child.

Since 2013, we’ve been building a new child and family support system that has a greater focus on supporting families to provide a safe home for their children.

Our vision is that:

Queensland children and young people are cared for, protected, safe and able to reach their full potential. Queensland families and communities are empowered to become stronger, more capable, more resilient and are supported by a child and family support system that understands and respects the importance of family, community and culture.

Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry

On 1 July 2012, the Queensland Government established the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry to chart a roadmap for the state’s child protection system for the next decade. The inquiry was a response to a widespread perception that the existing child protection system in Queensland was failing vulnerable children and their families.

The inquiry, led by the Honourable Tim Carmody QC, was asked to review the progress of recommendations made in the 1999 Commission of Inquiry into abuse of children in Queensland institutions and the 2004 Crime and Misconduct Commission of Inquiry Protecting children: an inquiry into the abuse of children in foster care.

The commission was directed to deliver recommendations on:

  • reforms to ensure that Queensland’s child protection system achieves the best possible outcomes to protect children and support families
  • strategies to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children at all stages of the child protection system, particularly out-of-home care
  • any legislative reforms required
  • any reforms to improve the current oversight, monitoring and complaints mechanisms for the child protection system.

The findings of the Inquiry

The Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry final report Taking responsibility: a roadmap for Queensland child protection (PDF)* was released on 1 July 2013.

The overarching message of the report was that parents (and families) should take primary responsibility for the protection of their children and that, where appropriate, parents should receive support and guidance to keep their children safe. Government should intervene in a statutory role as a last resort to ensure the protection of children who are at significant risk of harm.

The commission made 121 recommendations for change in the child protection system and provided government with a detailed roadmap about how the reform process should be undertaken.

* This publication was produced prior to the current government.

Queensland Government response

On 16 December 2013, the Queensland Government released its response to the final report (PDF) response to the final report (RTF, 846 KB)*, and accepted all 121 of the commission’s recommendations (six of which were accepted in principle).

Implementing the recommendations has fundamentally changed the way government, child safety professionals and community organisations work together with vulnerable families and each other.

* This publication was produced prior to the current government.