‘There’s no love’: state child safety inquiry begins
Fraser Barton |
Hundreds of children have gone missing in a state-sanctioned care system that offers “no love”, with two kids still to be tracked down by authorities.
An audit ahead of the first public hearing of Queensland’s landmark child safety inquiry on Monday has revealed 772 kids were missing after “self placing”, ensuring the department had no knowledge of their whereabouts.
The Queensland government said 586 of the kids were frequently missing or absent, confirming children were still unaccounted for as the inquiry got underway in Cairns.
“This is over 500 children across the system that at one point in time my department didn’t know where they were,” Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said in Brisbane on Monday.
“Two children were unaccounted for and still remain unaccounted for, and we are currently working very closely with Queensland Police Service to locate those adolescent children.”
More than half of the children – 371 – were missing or absent because they didn’t like their placement or they preferred living elsewhere, Ms Camm said.
Of the missing or absent kids, 55 did not feel safe in their current placement while 57 had a conflict with another person.
Child safety officers are set to be placed with police teams during overnight shifts in Cairns, Logan and Caboolture under a pilot program, Ms Camm said.
The child safety department will also create a 24-7 information sharing system with police to ensure officers have up to date information on children they encounter on the streets.
“It matters where you live. It matters where you place. It’s not acceptable that we don’t know where you are,” Ms Camm said.
Queensland had more than 3000 children living in out-of-home care in 2024, many with traumatic backgrounds.
The audit findings came as a foster carer provided a grim picture of the state’s out-of-home system as the child safety inquiry’s public hearings began.
Camille Bitossi told the inquiry that a child under her care had at one stage stabbed her husband and smashed all the windows in her house but she did not call the police.
She said carer numbers were dropping faster than recruitment before highlighting what she believed was the difference between children in foster care and department custody.
“Children in family-based placements learn the way of the household, the way it’s meant to be in a family,” she told the hearing.
“Children in residential care, there’s no love, there’s nothing there – if they run away, they run away.”
Final recommendations from the $20 million, government-backed inquiry under Commissioner Paul Anastassiou are due by November 2026.
AAP
