Arabic version: وزيرة كوينزلاند تلغي استطلاع الأطفال في الرعاية

According to ABC News, Queensland Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm has confirmed the annual My Life in Care Survey has been quashed, saying she “had no hesitation” in ending it. The survey had been conducted every year since 2022 and asked children and teenagers about their experiences in care.

Ms Camm had previously described the survey as a “cornerstone” of the government’s approach to addressing the child safety system and said it would help assess reforms. The 2024 results were tabled in a submission to the now-finalised Child Safety Inquiry. But she said the survey was not an accurate representation of children’s experiences, noting it reported that 67 per cent of respondents felt happy in care.

In 2024, nearly 1,000 young people aged 10 to 18 responded, along with 88 children aged five to nine. The survey found that 40 per cent of respondents aged 10 to 18 had made a complaint about their time in care; of those, 39 per cent were unhappy with how their report was handled. Ms Camm criticised the report’s use of emojis and pointed to the Children in Care census, which found that more than 69 per cent of children entering care had suffered more than three types of abuse.

Ms Camm also said children under the former Labor government had been “bribed” to complete the survey because respondents received grocery-store vouchers. The Opposition said this followed Queensland Family and Child Commission advice that young people’s views should be compensated through measures including gift cards, travel subsidies and skills building. Opposition leader Steven Miles called the decision “ridiculous” and said it removed a program recording the voices and experiences of children in care. The Queensland Family and Child Commission’s Too Little, Too Late report has called for more complaint mechanisms, saying children fear speaking up and doubt their concerns will be acted on.