In a bold and long-overdue move, the Crisafulli Government has announced a Commission of Inquiry into Queensland’s Child Safety System, aiming to uncover the critical failures linking the State’s out-of-home care system and the alarming rise in youth crime.
For communities in Far North Queensland (FNQ), where the impacts of youth offending are often felt most intensely, this inquiry signals a turning point. It represents the first meaningful step in decades toward understanding and disrupting the destructive pipeline from state care to serious criminal behaviour.
A System in Crisis
At the heart of this inquiry lies a confronting reality: more than 100 of Queensland’s most serious young criminals currently reside in the State’s broken out-of-home care system — a system once intended to protect them. This includes youth in residential care, kinship care, and various supported arrangements, many of whom are subject to strict supervised youth justice orders.
In FNQ and across the state, 55% of all youth crime is committed by serious repeat offenders (SROs) — a deeply concerning figure that underscores the urgency of the problem.
What the Inquiry Will Examine
The Commission will dive deep into the lives of children under dual orders — those simultaneously within the Child Safety and Youth Justice systems. Using case studies, the inquiry will aim to:
- Uncover failures in policies and practices that have contributed to these young people falling into crime.
- Investigate how placements like residential care have become breeding grounds for peer-led criminal behaviour.
- Determine whether the current system can adequately respond to the needs of high-risk youth.
As of September 2024, 388 SROs between the ages of 10 and 17 were identified in Queensland. Of these, 111 are under child protection orders, highlighting the overlap between crime and care. Shockingly, 25 are living in residential care, while another 79 are housed in detention centres, hospitals, supported independent living facilities, and other unconventional settings.
The Stats Speak for Themselves
The recently released 2024 Census on children in out-of-home care who are under supervised youth justice orders paints a grim picture:
- 67% have been in care for over five years
- 77% have had more than four placements
- 72% have been excluded or suspended from school
- 56% have self-harmed
- 40% have attempted suicide
- 70% live with a diagnosed or suspected disability
These figures reflect more than just bureaucratic failure — they reflect a humanitarian crisis. Young people in FNQ are not only falling through the cracks but are being funnelled through a broken system that too often leads to prison, not progress.
Beyond Residential Care: The ‘Crime Vortex’
Minister for Child Safety, Amanda Camm, emphasized the troubling dynamic inside residential care homes, which have often become hotbeds of negative peer influence.
“We often hear of the crime vortex caused by young offenders living in residential care,” Camm said. “They cause others they live with to follow them into criminal behaviours. It’s important to investigate and understand how the system has played a part in that.”
Looking Ahead: Reform and Responsibility
The Crisafulli Government has committed not only to uncovering the truth but to enacting meaningful change. Among the key reforms is the proposed trial of a SecureCare facility for high-risk youth who pose a danger to themselves or the community — a measure designed to interrupt the cycle before it becomes a lifelong pattern.
Communities in FNQ — from Cairns to Cape York — have long called for action. This Inquiry finally signals a recognition from government that the current approach to child safety and youth justice is not just flawed, but fundamentally broken.
Time for Generational Change
“This is a crucial moment in time to make serious generational changes to a system that has been left to languish under Labor,” Minister Camm said. “Thousands of children have been let down. We must act, or risk losing another generation in a cycle of crime and despair.”
For families, frontline workers, and community leaders across FNQ, this Inquiry offers more than just answers — it offers hope. Hope for a system that protects rather than punishes. Hope for real reform. And hope that no more young lives are sacrificed to a system that, for too long, has failed to care.
