MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

Margaret Keech

Minister for Child Safety

Minister for Women

Ministerial Statement

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Child death triggers two-part independent review

Mr Speaker,

Honourable members may be aware of the recent death of a young Margate boy.

The death of any child is an absolute tragedy, and my heart goes out to all those suffering as a result of this terrible incident.

A man has been charged over this incident and the case is before the courts, which means I am limited in what I am able to say about this issue.

What I can confirm is that the child was known to the Department of Child Safety and there will be a two-step, independent review of the Department’s actions in this case.

It starts with a mandatory department review, which is conducted by outside experts.

In this case an independent reviewer with 10 years experience conducting sensitive investigations has been appointed and the department is collecting any files and other material related to its involvement with the child.

That independent review, as well as any proposed departmental response to its recommendations, is then looked at by the external Child Death Case Review Committee, which is chaired by the Commission for Children and Young People and includes the Police Commissioner and senior health experts.

That committee can make further recommendations, and any recommendations from the review will be made public.

If there are any recommendations out of this review for doing things differently or better, we’ll be accepting those and implementing them.

The investigation following a tragedy is not about apportioning blame - it is about retracing the steps we took in dealing with the case; whether those steps were appropriate in the circumstances; whether we could have done things better; and whether we should do things better.

There has been major change over the past 3 years, and the period of improvement will continue.

The Department now has a budget of more than $551 million, an increase of $48 million on last year, and more than triple that of four years ago.

This budget increase, along with the implementation of all 110 CMC recommendations, shows a clear commitment to protecting Queensland children.

We are serious about putting the safety of children first. That’s why the Department is very accountable for its actions, and will continue to be so.