Moira Bligh - Qld Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research

Queensland Child Death Case
Review Committee
Presentation to the
9 th Queensland Indigenous Family Violence
Prevention Forum
What contributions does the misuse of alcohol
have on children’s safety?

Background of the Child Death Case
Review Committee
• The Child Death Case Review Committee (CDCRC)
was established in 2004.
• Where a child who has died was known to the
Department of Communities, Child Safety and
Disability Services (the Department), within three
years prior to the child’s death, the Department must
undertake a review of its service delivery to the child.
This review is called an original review.

Background of the CDCRC cont.
• Each original review is then considered by the
CDCRC against a set of Review Criteria.
• The CDCRC is made up of multidisciplinary experts,
and is chaired by the Acting Commissioner for
Children and Young People and Child Guardian.

Queensland Child Protection System
• The Indigenous Child Placement Principle
• Recognised Entities
• Family Support Services
• Family Intervention, foster care and kinship programs
• Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Child Protection Peak.

Indigenous over-representation
• Indigenous children are over-represented at every
point in the child protection system.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children make
up 6.4% of all Queensland children.
• 29.1% were the subject of substantiated notifications.
• 37.5% were in out-of-home care. The rate tripled
between 2002 and 2011.
(Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry Discussion Paper 2013)

Indigenous over-representation cont.
• Indigenous over-representation was identified as a
key issue for the child protection system by the Crime
and Misconduct Commission (CMC) in its report
Protecting Children: an inquiry into abuse of children
in foster care.
• The CMC made a number of recommendations to:
– strengthen the role of independent communitybased
Indigenous organisations, and
– to provide culturally appropriate child protection
services.

Indigenous over-representation cont.
• Since the CMC inquiry, the over-representation of
Indigenous children in out-of-home case has
increased markedly. As shown in figure 1, Indigenous
children were 4 times more likely than other children
to be in out-of-home care in 2003, but almost 9 times
more likely by 2011.

Indigenous over-representation cont.
(Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry Discussion Paper 2013)

Reforms
• 10 Recognised Entities in Queensland
• 11 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family
Support services
• Safe Houses in 9 discrete communities
• Safe Haven services located in Mornington Island,
Coen, Cherbourg and Palm Island
• Increased funding to Queensland Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak Ltd in
2011–12.

Key findings from CDCRC
• Between 2004 to 2012, the CDCRC considered the
deaths of 138 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
children and young people. Of those, 89 were
reviewed between 2008 and 2012.
• Of the 89 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
children whose deaths were reviewed between 2008
and 2012, 60 were from families in which domestic
violence co-existed with parental substance misuse.
• Sixty-four children and young people were from
families in which parental criminal history was an
issue.

Key findings from CDCRC cont.
• Domestic violence was the most common family and
parental issue occurring in 72 families.
• Parental substance misuse was the second most
common family and parental issues occurring in 70
families.
• Parental criminal history was present for 64 families.
• Parental mental issues were noted in 30 families.

Trends and Issues – over-representation
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
youth who suicide
• Between 2004 and 2011, 43 Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander youth suicided.
• This represents 30% of all youth suicides in
Queensland, despite comprising 6% of the total
Queensland youth population.
(Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian, Trends and Issues Paper
Number 11 : Child deaths – over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth
who suicide (December 2012))

Risk factors
• Alcohol and drugs – 70% of all suicides had
consumed either alcohol or drugs
• Behaviour and disciplinary problems (67%)
• Previous suicidal thoughts and behaviours (65%)
• Suicide rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
youth is six times higher than for non-Indigenous
youth.

Risk factors cont.
• The primary client group of child protection services
are families with multiple complex needs including:
– Mental health
– Domestic and family violence
– Drug and alcohol abuse
• All factors where the wellbeing of children can be
compromised.

Complex needs
• Parents in families with complex needs are often
struggling to overcome:
– housing instability
– low education
– poverty
– social isolation, and
– disability.
• These issues are exacerbated for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander families who have experienced grief and
loss and are often themselves repeated victims of the
child protection systems.

What contribution does the misuse of
alcohol have on children’s safety?
“Families with parental substance misuse have high
rates of child maltreatment. However, parental
substance misuse frequently co-occurs with many other
problems, the combination of which place children at
heightened risk of abuse and neglect.”
(Dawe, Harnett & Frye, 2008)

Contributions of alcohol misuse on
children’s safety
• domestic violence
• impact on parent’s behaviour, and may lead to abuse
of a child
• inability to respond sensitively to child’s emotional
needs
• lack of supervision of the child, resulting in increased
risk of injury, neglect or harm by others

Contributions of alcohol misuse on
children’s safety cont.
• limited parenting capacity. For example, tasks such
as cleaning, preparing meals and ensuring a
reasonable standard of hygiene is maintained, may
be difficult.
• inappropriate level of responsibility may be placed on
the child with the child having to take on a parenting
role when the parent is intoxicated
(Braaf 2012; Meredith & Price-Robertson 2011; Dawe, Harnett & Frye, 2008)

The future
• Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry
responsible for reviewing the effectiveness of
Queensland’s current child protection system.
• Full report and recommendations to the Premier are
due by June 2013.
• In making the recommendations, the Commissioner
will chart a new road map for the Queensland child
protection system over the next decade.

Questions

Contact details
• Telephone:
(07) 3211 6700 or 1800 688 275
• Email: cdcrc@ccypcg.qld.gov.au
• Mail:
PO Box 15217
Brisbane City East
Queensland 4002