RSS Feed
July 17th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda There are more children in out-of-home care in Queensland than prisoners, the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry heard today.
In her opening address to a directions hearing, counsel assisting the inquiry, Kathryn McMillan, SC, said while the “notifications and substantiations” were “currently down slightly on historical levels”, the figures were still alarming.
“The number and corresponding rate of children admitted to a care protection order of some variety rose from 3998 in 2006-07 to 4353 in 2010-11,” she told the inquiry.
“And the corresponding rate of children in out of home care increased from 5972 in 2000 to some 7602 in 2011.
“By contrast, the number of prisoners currently incarcerated in this state is 5527.”
Ms McMillan said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children continued to be over-represented in the child protection system.
“In Queensland indigenous children were six times more likely to be the subject of a substantiated notification than non indigenous children,” she said.
“Indigenous children were also nearly nine times more likely to be subject to a protection order or out of home care in Queensland.
“Although comprising only 6 per cent of the total population of Queensland’s children aged between zero and 17 years, 37 per cent of all children in out of home care on 30 June 2011 were either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.”
The inquiry was ordered by the government and established on July 1.
A report on its findings and recommendations must be handed to Premier Campbell Newman by April 30, 2013.
The inquiry has been charged with “charting a new road map” for how the state deals with child protection issues and has been given the scope to review historical issues as well as modern challenges.
Founder and executive director of child protection advocacy group Bravehearts Hetty Johnson said the inquiry was very welcome.
“For the first time, this is a state that is having an inquiry without an obvious crisis, where the government is not being dragged to it kicking and screaming,” she said.
“This is something that they clearly want to do, to put it on the table. There is a lot of pain out there that needs to be heard, so for us, it is very exciting.”
Ms Johnson said there was no doubt an overhaul of the system was needed.
“There will be no simple answers (to the issue of child protection),” she said.
“There is no magic cure to any of this, but what hasn’t happened before, is there hasn’t really been open ears either.
“There hasn’t be a willingness to hear from the people at the coal face, the child protection workers, the people, the families involved, the children involved, the other agencies, like ourselves, all who have experiences who can inform, all who are very frustrated a lot of the time, because we think ‘why are they doing it like this, there are better ways to approach this’.
“We’ll all get our day in the sun I guess, we get to put our two cents worth in and we’ll hopefully come up with something that is better for the children, because at the end of the day, it’s all about the kids.”
The inquiry was adjourned until early next week after counsel David Rofe, QC, previewed his intention to appeal for Queensland Child Protection Commissioner Tim Carmody, SC, to recuse himself from the proceedings.
Public submissions can be made via the commission’s website.
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
