Queensland Residential Care Systems Review
The Queensland Government is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in care.
As part of this commitment, the Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services undertook a comprehensive and collaborative review of the Queensland residential care systems from July to December 2023. Mr Luke Twyford, Principal Commissioner of the Queensland Family and Child Commission, provided expert advice and independent oversight to the review.
More than 800 stakeholders were consulted through 41 engagement activities, including 15 regional forums, and a Ministerial Roundtable which sought input from child safety experts, frontline workers, advocates, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations, and young people with lived experience.
On 6 February 2024, the Honourable Charis Mullen MP, Minister for Child Safety, Minister for Seniors and Disability Services and Minister for Multicultural Affairs, publicly released the A Roadmap for Residential Care in Queensland (the Roadmap) which was developed following the finding of the review.
The department will work in partnership with child protection peaks, and with other stakeholders, to implement and deliver on the Roadmap's 31 key actions.
We wish to thank all stakeholders, particularly young people with lived experience, for participating in this review. Your insights will help us understand what is working and what needs to change to improve outcomes for young people in residential care.
The Roadmap
The Queensland Government aims to halve the number of children and young people living in residential care, see more cared for by kin or foster carers, improve culturally-led and early intervention support, and reduce the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in care.
The Roadmap and associated actions will continue to build on the work underway to deliver the strategic direction of the department to meet the needs of children, young people and families within the child protection and family support systems.
The outcomes for children and young people living in residential care will be monitored and the department will continue to respond flexibly and apply insights learned as implementation progresses.
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