An inquiry into Queensland’s child safety system has heard the former minister responsible was made aware of its resource issues, as well as the “significant increase” in children entering residential care.
It comes as the state government today announced a new multi-million-dollar pilot program with the goal of moving more children into family homes across the state and improving support and training for foster carers.
The commission of inquiry, announced in May last year, was launched to review and fix systemic issues that saw the billion-dollar child safety sector deliver inadequate outcomes for the state’s most vulnerable children.
Leanne Linard says she was made aware of resource issues within the child safety system. (Supplied)
According to the state government, a 2024 census found thousands of children living in out-of-home care had suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, domestic violence and mental health issues, while one child’s care alone cost $2.6 million dollars a year.
The latest public hearings, held in Brisbane this week, detailed issues with the high costs of residential care — an arrangement where young people are placed in group homes supported by 24/7 youth workers.
Today, former child safety minister Leanne Linard told the inquiry she had been made aware there was a lack of foster carers in Queensland during her tenure, as well as an influx of children entering out of home care.
The inquiry heard this often resulted in high-cost emergency accommodation being sourced.
Ms Linard agreed that within a week of assuming the child safety portfolio, she had attended five consecutive briefings where she was told about placement pressures within the system. She agreed when it was put to her that she had likely given budget details in those meetings.
The inquiry heard there was an influx of children entering out-of-home-care under Ms Linard’s time as child safety minister. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)
Ms Linard was child safety minister in Queensland between November 2020 and May 2023.
In January 2020, before Ms Linard took on the portfolio, the child safety budget was around $1.5 billion.
She said she had been briefed that a financial deficit would increase year-on-year during her term, due to an increase in the number of children requiring help.
Ms Linard agreed the more costly Individual Placement and Support (IPS) funding was used because Outsourced Service Delivery (OSD) funding, had been exhausted.
Residential care placements are estimated to be 10 to 15 times more expensive than family-based care. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)
IPS placements are only intended to be a short-term bridging response for children in need, until more stable OSD placements are available.
According to the inquiry, residential care placements are estimated to be 10 to 15 times more expensive than family-based care.
“I was certainly aware that there was an increasing number of children who were coming into care being placed in IPS agreements,”
Ms Linard said.
“They also briefed me that there was an increase in IPS because there was an increase in the complexity and acuity of young people during the period proceeding me, coming into care of the department.”
Ms Linard said children were also placed on IPS agreements, which do not require formal inspections or licensing, due to an “ice epidemic” impacting parts of the state.
Ms Linard told the inquiry the pandemic added further pressure to the struggling sector. (ABC News: Chris Gillette)
Pandemic added to pressures
According to Ms Linard, the COVID-19 pandemic further limited the availability of child safety staff and housing.
“Because it was COVID to be fair, a lot of the issues we were facing … like getting facilities to be able to do these services, was also a pressure as well,” she said.
She said some children were placed on IPS agreements during the height of COVID-19 pandemic, as it was thought they would not require longer-term care once it subsided.
“[The belief was] once COVID passed and [their] normal situation, or business as usual returned, those young people would be able to return home once stabilised, and the family stabilised,” she said.
“So it was certainly put to me that that was a key use of IPS at the time, and it was not preferable to put them into long-term committed contracts.”
Inquiry evidence ‘damning’
Current Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the government at the time had been warned on multiple occasions.
She said evidence heard in the inquiry had been “damning”.
Amanda Camm says evidence heard by the inquiry has been damning. (AAP: Darren England)
“The department had signalled many, many times to the former Labor government that they needed extra resourcing,”
she said.
“They knew what was occurring, which was the over-reliance on residential care.”
She said she would review the inquiry’s recommendations swiftly, when handed down next month.
Ms Camm also unveiled a $27 million pilot program set to improve some of the system’s resourcing issues, moving 100 children in residential care into family homes and bringing on 100 additional carers.
It currently includes three sites, two in south-east Queensland, one in North Queensland.
If successful, the pilot will be expanded right across Queensland.
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