Queensland honours child protection champions

• Queensland Child Protection Week 2024 (1–7 September) begins this weekend with more than 200 community events taking place across the state
• The theme of the week is ‘Protecting children is everyone’s business’
• Child protection champions and advocates were honoured today at the annual Queensland Child Protection Awards at Parliament House

Children and families are getting ready to celebrate Queensland Child Protection Week 2024 (1–7 September) with more than 200 community events taking place across the state.

Celebrated across Australia, the annual awareness week serves as a reminder that ‘protecting children is everyone’s business’.

From a colour fun run on Thursday Island to a family fun day at Coolangatta, Queenslanders of all ages are encouraged to take part in the week-long celebrations.

Child protection champions, advocates and frontline workers were today honoured at the annual Queensland Child Protection Awards at Parliament House.

The awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of Queenslanders working in the child protection sector to keep children and young people safe.

This year’s winners include Phillipa Fleming, a foster carer from the South East, who won the ‘Volunteer’ award after caring for more than 20 children over nearly a decade.

The team behind a successful reunification program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children won the ‘Our Children Our Future’ category.

With staff from the Department of Child Safety’s Sunshine Coast Central Region Delegated Authority team, Central Queensland Indigenous Development and REFOCUS, the program represents a fundamental shift in how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families interact with the child protection system.

Tara Winsor-Banwell, a placement and support services manager from the South West, won the ‘Professional (Government)’ award for her efforts to match children in residential care with family-based carers.

Julia Hayes, a child safety officer from the South East, was presented with the ‘Education Initiative’ award for her children’s books about personal safety.

The 2023–2024 State Budget included $2.3 billion for child and family services to support Queensland’s most vulnerable children and families.

The number of child safety officers in Queensland has increased to 1,403 full-time equivalent positions as at the end of June 2024, an increase of 518 positions since 2015.

Quotes attributable to Child Safety Minister Charis Mullen:

“Protecting children is everyone’s business – that’s the message behind Child Protection Week, which starts this weekend.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child and the same is true for keeping children and young people safe, loved and protected.

“This week is a chance to shine a spotlight on the foster carers, frontline workers and advocates who work tirelessly to protect some of our most vulnerable.

“Congratulations to all the Queensland Child Protection Awards’ winners and nominees – thank you for everything that you do.

“Thank you also to the Child Protection Week Committee for ensuring this important message is shared loudly every year.

“It’s up to all of us to help keep our children safe.”

Further information:

• For more information on Child Protection Week events, visit https://childprotectionweek.org.au/events/
• For a full list of Child Protection Week award winners, visit https://childprotectionweek.org.au/past-campaigns/2024-campaign/

ENDS

Media contact: 0417 296 116

This statement replaces the statement which was posted at 3:23pm Thursday 29th August 2024.