Overhaul of reviews into child deaths

Published Wednesday, 18 September, 2019 at 12:19 PM

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice
The Honourable Yvette D'Ath

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath is overhauling reviews into the deaths of children connected to the child protection system, to provide more independence, transparency and accountability.

The Attorney-General introduced the Child Death Review Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 into Parliament today and said the changes will transform how the reviews are done.

“One child death is one too many and we must do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable people in our community,” Mrs D’Ath said.

“The Queensland Family and Child Commission report A systems review of individual agency findings following the death of a child found we could do things better – we have listened and acted.”

The bill:

  • expands the current requirement to conduct an internal review when a child known to Child Safety dies or suffers serious physical injury to other relevant agencies, and
  • establishes a new, external and independent child death review board to carry out a review of systems following the death of a child connected to the child protection system

The expanded internal review process will require relevant agencies to; undertake reviews, focus on the improvement of services and share information.

Responsible ministers will also be able to request reviews.

The new board will:

  • carry out systems reviews of child deaths to identify improvements to prevent future deaths,
  • focus on reviews of children connected to the child protection system,
  • conduct reviews at the request of the Attorney-General, and
  • have the ability to request confidential information from private and public entities.

The new board will not investigate individual deaths, and the Families and Children Commissioner will retain responsibility for the review of broader issues impacting the child protection system.

Media Contact: Richard O’Leary 0447155332