Sadly, child abuse does not take a holiday over the Christmas break – in fact, it is often a time when our system is under the most pressure.
For that reason, I am concerned that Labor’s Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman has not addressed the fact that her Department scales down to skeleton staff – including at frontline call centres – for reports of abuse.
In October it was revealed there were more than 3800 reports of suspected child abuse caught in a backlog across Queensland.
To date, we have heard nothing from Labor as to how they will fix this disastrous situation.
With the Christmas break upon us and no action from Labor I am worried for the many children and families who desperately need help and won’t get it in time, if at all.
Our child safety staff do a phenomenal job in some of the most challenging circumstances and so do our carers. We need to ensure they are given every chance to perform such vital work.
It’s simply not good enough to pull down the shutters and pack up for the holiday season. Queensland’s most vulnerable children deserve more from Annastasia Palaszczuk and her incompetent Child Safety Minister.