MEDIA STATEMENT: Half a billion dollar residential care budget blow out
Published Tuesday, 10 December, 2024 at 09:13 AM
Minister for Families, Seniors and Disability Services and Minister for Child Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence
The Honourable Amanda Camm
Half a billion dollar residential care budget blow out
- New financial data reveals a predicted half a billion dollar budget blowout this financial year in residential care for Queensland’s most vulnerable children.
- Decade long increase in the number of children under 12 living in residential care across Queensland.
- Crisafulli Government’s Safer Children, Safer Communities plan to reform the sector and help the state’s most vulnerable children.
The Crisafulli Government has uncovered a predicted half a billion dollar 2024-25 budget blowout in the residential care sector that the former government knew about and did nothing to stop.
Last financial year the former government spent just shy of a billion dollars on residential care, while this year Queensland Labor budgeted just $658 million, a figure that is expected to be surpassed by early March 2025 and blow out to more than a billion dollars.
It currently costs the state about $1,360 per child, per night to live in a residential care home and at the end of September there were 2,093 children in a resi care home.
An analysis of departmental data also revealed Queensland Labor oversaw a decade long increase in the number of the state’s most vulnerable children being put into residential care, including 683 children aged under 12 who were living in these facilities as at 30 September 2024. That’s a 381 per cent increase on the 142 children aged under 12 and living in residential care homes at June 30, 2015.
The data revelations come as a recent report from the Queensland Family & Child Commission highlights 721 children under youth justice supervision had experienced out-of-home care, including resi care across the state.
Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the former government’s indifference towards coming up with a meaningful solution for vulnerable children was disgraceful.
“Labor have been caught lying to Queenslanders to the tune of a half a billion dollars, and their shameful lies mean we have an inherited a broken system, a system that was without a plan to protect children and our communities,” Minister Camm said.
“The evidence shows Labor’s roadmap for residential care was on a road to nowhere. The extreme under budgeting, along with the sheer increase in the number of young people who are now living in residential care, especially those under 12 is a disgrace.
“Labor did not care about Queenslander’s money, their safety, or doing the right thing by the state’s most vulnerable children.”
Ms Camm said the Crisafulli Government would reform the sector under the Safer Children, Safer Communities plan and would respect Queenslander’s money.
“The decade of disregard of taxpayers dollars will continue to run the residential care space further into the ground, but we will stop the senseless spending and reform the sector," she said.
“I have spent the last five weeks meeting with and talking to frontline staff, people who work in the sector and organisations that have a role to play in reforming the sector.
“The Crisafulli Government is not daunted by the task ahead; we are committed to restoring and significantly strengthening support and parental care in this state.
“We are moving towards a 24 hours, dual carer model for our residential care facilities and we will deliver Queensland’s first SecureCare facility to provide safe care to children who are a danger to themselves and others.
“The Crisafulli Government also plan to pilot a new professional foster care program for children with disability and complex needs currently in residential care.
“We will also increase the allowance for extracurricular activities and education support for children in out-of-home care.”
Minister Camm will host a forum with residential care providers this month to discuss the dual carer model roll out and wider issues in the sector.
DATA BELOW
|
Children in out-of-home care with a placement type of residential care service, by age (in years) Queensland |
||||||
|
Child age (in years) |
as at |
as at |
as at |
|||
|
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
|
|
0 Total |
4 |
0.6% |
0 |
0.0% |
3 |
0.2% |
|
1 Total |
2 |
0.3% |
0 |
0.0% |
5 |
0.3% |
|
2 Total |
4 |
0.6% |
0 |
0.0% |
11 |
0.6% |
|
3 Total |
6 |
0.9% |
2 |
0.2% |
9 |
0.5% |
|
4 Total |
4 |
0.6% |
2 |
0.2% |
18 |
0.9% |
|
5 Total |
8 |
1.2% |
2 |
0.2% |
31 |
1.6% |
|
6 Total |
5 |
0.8% |
10 |
1.1% |
52 |
2.6% |
|
7 Total |
12 |
1.8% |
18 |
1.9% |
71 |
3.6% |
|
8 Total |
16 |
2.4% |
26 |
2.7% |
81 |
4.1% |
|
9 Total |
24 |
3.6% |
31 |
3.3% |
82 |
4.1% |
|
10 Total |
28 |
4.2% |
57 |
6.0% |
124 |
6.2% |
|
11 Total |
29 |
4.4% |
46 |
4.8% |
147 |
7.4% |
|
12 Total |
49 |
7.4% |
83 |
8.7% |
166 |
8.3% |
|
13 Total |
73 |
11.0% |
119 |
12.5% |
204 |
10.2% |
|
14 Total |
87 |
13.1% |
150 |
15.8% |
219 |
11.0% |
|
15 Total |
114 |
17.2% |
145 |
15.2% |
284 |
14.2% |
|
16 Total |
106 |
16.0% |
141 |
14.8% |
271 |
13.6% |
|
17 Total |
92 |
13.9% |
119 |
12.5% |
220 |
11.0% |
|
Grand Total |
663 |
100.0% |
951 |
100.0% |
1,998 |
100.0% |
|
Children in out-of-home care with a placement type of residential care service, by region Queensland |
||||||
|
Region (a) |
as at |
as at |
as at |
|||
|
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
|
|
Brisbane and Moreton Bay Total |
107 |
16.1% |
169 |
17.8% |
382 |
19.1% |
|
Far North Queensland Total |
126 |
19.0% |
126 |
13.2% |
219 |
11.0% |
|
North Queensland Total |
67 |
10.1% |
107 |
11.3% |
288 |
14.4% |
|
South East Total |
104 |
15.7% |
204 |
21.5% |
404 |
20.2% |
|
South West Total |
151 |
22.8% |
189 |
19.9% |
492 |
24.6% |
|
Sunshine Coast and Central Total |
108 |
16.3% |
156 |
16.4% |
213 |
10.7% |
|
Grand Total |
663 |
100.0% |
951 |
100.0% |
1,998 |
100.0% |
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT: Chris McMahon 0421 000 470