Young people in care to help drive change

• The Miles Government will establish a ministerial youth advisory group to give young people in care a greater say about their future.
• The advisory positions will be filled with young people with lived experience of the Queensland child protection system and living in residential care, and they will be compensated for sharing their knowledge and expertise.
• The establishment of the group fulfills one of the key actions from last year’s wide-ranging review of Queensland’s residential care system.
• This builds on $4.7M of new investment to implement actions under the five-year Roadmap for Residential Care in Queensland.

A new ministerial youth advisory group is being established to give children and young people who have lived in care the opportunity to share their experiences and help design future services.

The group will include young people with lived experience of Queensland’s child protection system.

It will draw from existing youth advisory groups and panels and will meet in the next few months.

The youth advisors will provide feedback about creating more choice for children and young people in care about their environment, routines and experiences.

This fulfills a key action from last year’s wide-ranging review of Queensland’s residential care system, which was led by the department with oversight by the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC).

The review resulted in a five-year Roadmap for Residential Care in Queensland.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Child Safety Charis Mullen:

“I look forward to attending the first ministerial youth advisory group meeting in the next few months.

“I want to listen and talk with inspirational members who will no doubt help improve the lives of children and young people in care.

“Following last year’s residential care review, we heard more needed to be done to listen to young people, to understand what matters to them, and to work with them to make real change.

“I can’t wait to see what these young people will achieve through this exciting opportunity.”

Quotes attributable to QFCC Principal Commissioner Luke Twyford:

“Too often, we forget or fail to acknowledge that young people in care are indisputably the experts of the Child Safety system.

“Throughout last year’s review process, the Queensland Family and Child Commission spoke to more than 200 workers and visited 16 sites, but the workshops hosted with young people who have lived experience of residential care provided the richest and most pragmatic solutions to the problems being discussed.

“Young people must be empowered within the system by actively and meaningfully involving them in discussions and decisions.

“I support a youth advisory group led by the Minister for Child Safety — it will provide a vital forum for government to hear about the quality of care young people receive while living in residential care and about the improvements needed to adequately meet their needs.

“The QFCC will continue to engage with the young people who provided expert advice to us throughout the review process, with outcomes to inform the ministerial youth advisory group.”

Further information:

Click here to access A Roadmap for Residential Care in Queensland.

ENDS

Media contact – 0417 296 116