Source : the age
A senior government minister says Queenslanders can have confidence in the path ahead for the child safety system, despite a key watchdog raising concerns about reduced transparency and a lack of change.
Principal Queensland Family and Child Commissioner Luke Twyford made comments to News Corp after Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm axed an annual survey of children in state care.
Twyford said this made Queensland’s child safety system “one of the least transparent” and its operations “invisible”. He also described the lack of change felt by children as “a shocking performance assessment”.
The Crisafulli government came to power promising change, but Camm has faced issues around the rollout of a long-awaited IT system, a growing number of kids in residential care, and reduced funding.
A government-commissioned inquiry was cut short, and Twyford’s commission was to be absorbed into a new body. This also came amid concerns about changes to adoption practices.
When asked on Saturday about Twyford’s comments, Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said he respected his views.
“We do work closely together with Luke Twyford in my portfolio, but also via the attorney-general and the police minister and the child safety minister, and we respect his views absolutely,” Langbroek said at a press conference on the Gold Coast.
Asked if Queenslanders could have confidence in a system that the watchdog could not properly monitor, the minister did not give a direct answer.
“Queenslanders can have confidence that we have a way forward and a road map following the royal commission and the recommendations that we continue to implement,” he said.
“I’d reject that we’re not doing things quickly enough. It’s a very big job, and it’s after 10 years of neglect from the former Labor government.”
Langbroek also ruled out government action against Twyford for his comments. “Of course he’s entitled to his views, which we’ll always take into account,” he said.
Despite Camm praising the last My Life In Care results in 2024, the decision to scrap the survey has been attributed to the fact the former government gave gift cards to participating children.
Child protection bodies, including the Family and Child Commission, had said such payments were best practice to ensure children were thanked for taking part.
A departmental spokesperson quoted by News Corp would not say whether the government was planning to launch an alternative to the survey.
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Matt Dennien is a reporter at Brisbane Times covering state politics, parliament and the public sector. He has previously worked for newspapers in Tasmania and Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ. Contact him securely on Signal @mattdennien.15Connect via email.
