Commission of Inquiry into Child Safety System begins in Queensland

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A young woman who claims she was abused while in the care of the Queensland government is calling for changes to the residential care system. A powerful commission of inquiry into the state's child protection sector has held it’s first public hearing promising to review the hundreds of children reported missing from placements.

Transcript

00:00Georgie Derricki was just seven years old when she entered the residential care system.

00:08She was placed in a facility with teenage boys and alleges she was sexually and physically abused.

00:15The boy had severely bashed me to the point where it had been so dangerous for me to live there anymore.

00:21They had to put me in a hotel for two weeks.

00:23The 19-year-old Aboriginal woman lived in four different facilities over a decade,

00:29battling mental health and behavioural issues.

00:33Now working as a youth advocate, Miss Derricki says the system is broken and doesn't protect children.

00:41We haven't just been hurt by our parents, we were removed from a situation that we should have been protected by,

00:46but instead we were failed.

00:48A commission of inquiry is now investigating shortcomings in child safety,

00:53which held its first public hearing in Brisbane.

00:56The paramount aim of this inquiry is to improve the lives of and outcomes for these children.

01:04The 18-month inquiry will recommend reforms to child protection.

01:09This system, I would surmise, has not delivered the outcomes and has not been in the best interest of the children.

01:16There are more than 12,000 children in state care.

01:20In ResiCare alone, there are more than 2,200 kids compared to 650 a decade ago.

01:29It costs more than a billion dollars annually.

01:32We have a system overwhelmed with demand that has only the ability to take more children in,

01:38but not the ability to prevent them from coming there in the first place.

01:41I think we really need to interrogate why there is such high demand and why so many children are entering care.

01:47The inquiry will also review the number of children under state care who have left their placements.

01:54In March this year, it was about 780, but the government doesn't know where they are.

02:01This is plainly a matter of serious concern.

02:05The inquiry will report back in November next year.

02:09from home, from home.

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