Arabic version: معارضة كوينزلاند تطالب بإجابات بشأن سلامة الأطفال

According to ABC News, Queensland’s opposition has called on Premier David Crisafulli to answer questions after the Queensland Family and Child Commission reported a sharp rise in deaths of children known to child safety services. The commission’s annual report recorded 452 child deaths in the last financial year, with preliminary figures showing 91 of those children had been known to the child protection system.

The figure of 91 was 59.6 per cent higher than the previous financial year, when 57 children known to child safety died. Labor’s Shannon Fentiman described the report as concerning, disturbing and heartbreaking, and questioned why the premier was not taking accountability for the condition of the child safety system.

Labor leader Steven Miles also criticised the government’s tabling of more than 100 annual reports before and across the AFL grand final weekend. He said the premier should explain the timing of the releases. The premier’s office did not directly respond to Labor’s calls for Mr Crisafulli to front the media, instead issuing a statement critical of Mr Miles and referring to reports about Labor’s leadership.

Police Minister Dan Purdie said he acknowledged the death of any child and said the government was doing more on child safety than Labor had done “in a long time”. He pointed to a Commission of Inquiry and other government work, while adding that there was always more work to do. Mr Purdie said the Queensland Police Service annual report in his portfolio had been tabled on its due date.

CREATE Foundation chief executive Imogen Edeson said the increase was “sobering and deeply concerning”. She said children who come into contact with child safety should be safer because of identification and intervention, describing the findings as a wake-up call for Queensland’s system. Ms Edeson said opportunities to investigate how similar tragedies could be prevented should be considered.