A child safety inquiry will prioritise reviewing the complaints system for those working and caring for children in the sector following an investigation by the ABC.
Several youth workers who spoke with the ABC urgently called for an independent complaints mechanism to allow reports to be made anonymously and without fear of reprisal.
Following the reporting, the commissioner of the inquiry, Paul Anastassiou KC, said the complaints system would be a “key early focus” of the 18-month review into Queensland’s child safety system.
Mr Anastassiou said frontline carers had raised serious concerns to the inquiry “about the risks they face and the barriers they encounter when trying to raise issues about safety, working conditions, and the level of support they receive”.
“There is particular concern that people are fearful of making complaints due to possible repercussions or loss of employment or placements,” Mr Anastassiou said.
He said submissions were now open for anyone wishing to share views on the complaint system.
Ability to make anonymous reports needed, workers say
An ABC investigation published this week uncovered days of violence and chaos inside one residential care home.
Incident reports seen by the ABC detailed one case where two girls threatened to use garden lamps as a weapon against a staff member who was forced to hide as a colleague calmed them.
The reports said one girl had earlier attempted to start a fire and chased the other girl around a table with a belt in hand.
A youth worker familiar with the case said the girls had significant trauma and it was “ridiculous” to place them together.
They claimed that when the girls were first introduced, they had a physical fight at the shopping centre which had to be broken up by security.
“We need to be able to report safety concerns anonymously to an external body,”
the worker said.
“I’ve reported several health and safety concerns [publicly] to the department that were never addressed.”
Another worker claimed several children attempted to assault him at one residential care home.
A worker says several children attempted to assault them and smashed up a residential care home.
He said on another occasion, a 14-year-old girl attempted to stab a worker with a weapon.
“When you think youth worker, you think playing guitars, we’re all in this together, but in reality, we’re on the frontline of youth being homeless, becoming criminals,” he said.
“We are the last hope for a lot of these kids.
“[It’s] so easy to go, ‘Lock those kids up, they’re bad kids, they should be in jail, where are their parents?’ When really, no-one knows what these kids’ backgrounds are.”
Public hearing to be held this month
Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm told the ABC she had asked for interim reports throughout the inquiry and would act on those, including if it recommends urgent changes to the current complaints process.
Amanda Camm says she has asked for interim reports throughout the inquiry. (ABC NEWS: Tobias Loftus)
The commissioner will hold a short public hearing in July to formally open the inquiry.
The commission will travel around Queensland to hear from government and those involved in the system.
It said it would not shy away from scrutinising critical issues of accountability and proper governance within the system.
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