· 62 per cent of all at-risk children still aren’t having their investigations started within recommended timeframes
· 74 per cent and 73 per cent of at-risk children who should be seen within recommended 5-day and 10-day periods respectively are still being missed
· 10 per cent of critical cases requiring 24-hour response are still being missed
· 10,016 investigations took longer than 60 days to finalise
Latest December child safety data shows the system has stalled under a do-nothing, secretive Labor Government.
Shadow Child Safety Minister Ros Bates said today’s December figures showed 62 per cent of all abuse investigations were still not being actioned within required timeframes.
“Labor’s embattled Child Safety Minister can try to raise the spectre of Ice use among abusive parents but whichever way you look at it, hundreds of at-risk children are still not being seen to within the required 24-hour timeframe,” Ms Bates said.
“Investigations requiring a 10-day response are stuck at a record low action rate of 26 percent.
“More than 10,000 investigations dragged on longer than the required 60 days, leaving children and families in limbo and putting greater strain on investigation teams.
“Labor still has no answer to the record 9262 children in foster care.
“The number of abuse investigations has jumped to 22,976, putting more pressure on an already stretched system.
“These are some of the worst figures since before the Commission of Inquiry into Child Safety.
“Alarmingly, more carers than ever before walked away from the system with some 1392 carers exiting.
“It’s no coincidence Shannon Fentiman has dropped this data on the same day as the Ice summit and late in the day.
“Behind every one of these figures is a child in need of protection and assistance.
“It was the LNP that invested a record $406 million in the child safety system and it was the LNP that boosted child safety numbers by 77 in 2014.
“Only the LNP will build a better Queensland by building stronger families.”