An interim report from the Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP), titled "Moving cage to cage", paints a bleak picture of life for children in hotels, motels and caravan parks, known as "alternative care arrangements".
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00:0016-year-old Sarah has been moved between so many hotels and motels, she missed nine months
00:07of school, one of the few things that brought her any joy.
00:10I don't, like, where am I going to go, like, you kind of have no place to call home.
00:18She's one of more than 400 children in emergency accommodation, including caravan parks, often
00:23being supervised by subcontractors.
00:26The state pays up to $2 million a year per child, but the Advocate for Children and Young
00:31People has heard first-hand about the cost on their wellbeing.
00:35Moving cage to cage, it is their words, it is confronting at times, but their experiences
00:41are very real.
00:42Some reported major hygiene issues, in some experiences I had cockroaches, but I had friends
00:47whose showers didn't work, so they had to go somewhere and find random places to shower.
00:53Another said they were living on their own, near strangers, full-grown adults on drugs,
00:58homeless people, people with mental illnesses.
01:00It was disgusting.
01:02As the minister and as a mum, I'm horrified to hear that there are children in the child
01:07protection system who feel like animals.
01:10Another young person reported sexual violence.
01:12I was sexually assaulted in a hotel that I was staying in, not by a worker, but just
01:16by a person, another person.
01:19The minister was unable to say whether the provider who was meant to be supervising is
01:23still caring for children.
01:25I would hope not.
01:26The government says it's already started reducing the number of children in high-cost emergency
01:30care and is trying to recruit more foster families, but this report didn't come with
01:35any extra funding to do that, just the promise of another review.
01:40If I could click my fingers and have kids out of hotels, motels and caravan parks tomorrow,
01:44I would.
01:46The simple fact is there is no other option available in the system right now.
01:51She's been there now for 12 months.
01:53We need a radical investment into the foster care system.
02:00The government's review will take another six months.