An accountable, transparent and cost-effective system

Services provided to vulnerable children and families will be high quality and provided in an efficient, transparent and accountable manner.

Designing new child protection laws for Queensland

The Queensland Government is committed to building a new child protection and family support system that meets the needs of children and families, now and into the future.

This system needs to be underpinned by a rigorous, contemporary legislative framework.

As recommended in the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry final report, the Queensland Government has reviewed the Child Protection Act 1999.

Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2017

Over 2 years we consulted with the Queensland community on proposed changes to child protection legislation.

As a result of this consultation, the Queensland Government developed the Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2017 to progress priority changes to the Child Protection Act 1999. The Act aims to achieve:

• permanency and stability for children, now and throughout their lives, including through the provision of support when they leave care
• the safe care and connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with their families, communities and cultures
• a contemporary information sharing framework focused on children's safety and wellbeing.

The Act was assented to on 10 November 2017, and changes to the legislation have commenced in stages over 2018.

Legislative amendments 2016

As part of the second stage of building the new child and family support system in Queensland, 2 reform acts have commenced to improve court processes for child protection matters.

1. Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2016
2. Director of Child Protection Litigation Act 2016.

These Acts enabled the establishment of a new court work model for the child protection system to commence on 1 July 2016. The model consists of the Office of the Child and Family Official Solicitor within the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs and the Office of the Director of Child Protection Litigation, an independent statutory agency within the justice portfolio.The Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2016 also responded to 11 recommendations made by the Commission of Inquiry to improve the way child protection proceedings are heard in the Childrens Court as well as the quality of information provided to a Court in proceedings on an application for a child protection order.These reforms intend to strengthen the way in which the justice system deals with child protection matters in Queensland and give children and families a stronger voice in proceedings.

The Director of Child Protection Litigation Act 2016 established the Office of the Director of Child Protection Litigation whose functions include preparing and applying for child protection orders and to conduct proceedings in the Childrens Court. This includes transfers of child protection proceedings to another state and appeals in relation to child protection orders or decisions about the transfer of child protection orders.

The Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2016 made amendments to the functions of the chief executive to support the establishment of the Office of the Child and Family Official Solicitor and clarify the roles of our department and other entities in Childrens Court child protection proceedings. The Office of the Child and Family Official Solicitor is responsible for providing child safety staff with early, independent legal advice and the preparation of briefs of evidence for the Office of the Director of Child Protection Litigation.

The Director of Child Protection Litigation Act 2016 and the Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2016 together formed the second stage of legislative child protection reforms resulting from the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry.

Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2014

Amendments made to the Child Protection Act 1999 (PDF) provide the legal framework for sharing information about child protection concerns. These changes to the legislation (PDF) achieve the following outcomes:

Consolidation of mandatory reporting requirements

Changes to the mandatory reporting requirements have clarified when a report must be made to Child Safety about a child.

Mandatory reporters including teachers, police, doctors, nurses and early childhood education and care professionals must now report to Child Safety a reasonable suspicion that a child has suffered, is suffering or is at unacceptable risk of suffering significant harm caused by physical or sexual abuse and may not have a parent able and willing to protect them from the harm.

Mandatory reporters may still report to Child Safety a reasonable suspicion a child may be in need of protection where the harm or risk of harm relates to any other type of abuse or neglect.

Clarification of the definition of 'a child in need of protection'

The definition of when a child is in need of protection is clarified within the Act as 'a child who has suffered, or is at risk of significant harm and has no parent willing and able to protect them' from harm. The change provides a clearer guideline on what constitutes significant harm, and reduces the number of families who are unnecessarily reported to Child Safety.

New child death case review process

An independent and multidisciplinary Child Death Case Review Panel reviews the deaths and serious injuries of children known to us within 1 year of the incident and in other cases as required.

Information sharing

The changes allow other prescribed entities to share relevant information about children and families with service providers such as Family and Child Connect to help prevent problems from escalating to a point that requires Child Safety intervention.

Complaints handled by the relevant departments and Ombudsman

Child protection system complaints are investigated by the relevant department delivering services to children and families, with oversight by the Ombudsman, to allow more timely resolution of complaints.

Improved Childrens Court processes

The changes give Chief Magistrate powers, functions and associated responsibility to ensure that magistrates and justices of the peace deal with Childrens Court matters - including child protection, youth justice and adoption matters - in an efficient and orderly manner. The changes also facilitate the development and implementation of a judicially led case management system.

Public Guardian Act 2014

The Office of the Public Guardian provides individual advocacy services for vulnerable children and young people, and oversees the community visitors program for children in out of home care, youth detention, corrective services and mental health facilities.

For more information, visit the Office of the Public Guardian website.

Family and Child Commission Act 2014

The Queensland Family and Child Commission provides systemic leadership, research and oversight of the child protection system in Queensland. The commission, which reports directly to the Premier, also promotes family responsibility and maintains a register of all child deaths in Queensland.

For more information visit the Queensland Family and Child Commission website.

Increasing accountability and transparency

Child death case review process

The Child Death Case Review Panel provides an external independent review for deaths and serious injuries of children known to us, within 1 year of the incident, and in other cases as required.

Each panel includes experts from relevant fields and senior officers from both our department and other government departments. At least 1 member of every panel is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.

The findings from the review panels provide us with information about the quality of services provided to children, young people and families, and identifies opportunities for strengthening the system.

The fourth Queensland Child Death Case Review Panels Annual Report 2017-2018 ((PDF, 627 KB)) Queensland Child Death Case Review Panels Annual Report 2017-2018 ((DOCX, 122 KB)) has been released and provides a summary of findings from 16 Child Death Case Review Panels conducted during the 2017-2018 reporting period. The report also highlights actions taken by us in response to the findings.

Consistent accreditation and licensing standards for all residential care services

Accreditation and licensing requirements have been enforced to ensure that all funded residential care services are subject to the same level of oversight.

Enhancing complaints management

We respect the right of individuals to give feedback on our actions, services and products.

In response to recommendations of the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry, we have strengthened our complaints management system and processes to:

• improve accessibility and usability for children and young people
• improve public confidence in our responsiveness to complaints
• ensure our complaints management system continues to comply with national standards.

In reviewing its complaints management system, we collaborated with representatives from government, non-government and peak agencies, service providers, and children and young people to identify challenges facing children and young people in making a complaint.

Four key themes emerged from the review that affected the ability of children and young people to make a complaint:

1. awareness of how to make a complaint
2. confidence to make a complaint
3. communication with the young person during the complaints process
4. responsiveness of the complaints process.

The review prompted us to consider how our complaints management system could become more child friendly, including options for young people to contact us through text messaging and online web chat.

We have improved our complaints management policy and procedures to become more people-focused and encourage a proactive approach to responding to issues and complaints at the appropriate level according to their complexity.