source : the age
Failings within the child safety system, including the case of Elizabeth Struhs, whose parents came to the attention of authorities before she died, will be investigated as part of a newly announced commission of inquiry.
The Queensland government on Sunday announced that former Federal Court judge Paul Anastassiou, KC, would lead the inquiry into what it described as a broken child protection system.
The appointment of Anastassiou was critical, the government said, given that he was from outside Queensland and would view the issues through an independent lens.
Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the inquiry’s terms of reference were broad, and would look at individual cases such as that of Elizabeth Struhs. Credit: Queensland government
The inquiry, which is expected to run for almost 18 months, will investigate how children interact with the system, including residential care, and how families receive support. It will also evaluate the effectiveness of the Child Safety Department and review Queensland’s child protection legislation.
Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the inquiry would investigate cases such as that of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs, who died on a mattress on the floor of her Toowoomba home after her parents and their fringe religious group denied her diabetic medication.
The 14 members of the group, who called themselves “The Saints”, were sentenced this year, with her parents, Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs and Jason Richard Struhs, to spend 14 years behind bars.
Elizabeth Rose Struhs, 8, died in January 2022. Her parents and 12 members of their fringe religious group were sentenced over her death this year. Credit: Nine News
The pair had previously been charged over an earlier incident before Elizabeth died. The Child Safety Department launched an investigation in 2019 after Elizabeth was rushed to hospital.
Her father was later put in charge of caring for her, and had been staunchly opposed to his wife’s hardline religious beliefs.
This masthead revealed this year that Elizabeth’s older sister, Jayde Struhs, was suing the Queensland government, accusing it of negligence.
Court documents showed that after the 2019 hospital admission, Child Safety were informed that Elizabeth’s mother appeared to be delusional – not just religiously fanatical – and required an involuntary mental health assessment.
Child Safety officers also visited the home after the eight-year-old was released from hospital, and the parents signed safety plans.
A safety assessment conducted by the department determined Elizabeth was in no immediate harm, and she was subsequently left in the care of her parents. She died in January 2022, weeks after her mother was released from prison.
Camm said the terms of reference for the inquiry were broad to ensure cases such as Elizabeth’s were included.
“Particularly, those very significant cases where we’ve seen the loss of a child’s life, that the review of both the system is looked at, but also those individual cases to identify where failings have occurred, to ensure that those failings are addressed,” she said.
“This is to look at, in depth, particularly region by region across the state, the standards of governance, the standards of practice, and to ensure that cases like that don’t happen again.”
In making the announcement, Premier David Crisafulli and Camm referenced a 2024 Census of 3000 children in care. It found 11 per cent of children entering care had suffered sexual abuse, while 46 per cent had been physically abused.
As of December 2024, 12,497 children were living in out-of-home care, including more than 6100 with kinship carers, 4173 with foster carers, and 2212 in residential care.
The report said girls were more likely to have been sexually abused before entering care and were self-harming at higher rates than boys. Meanwhile, boys tended to have higher levels of disability and intellectual impairment.
Almost 70 per cent of the total had been exposed to domestic violence, according to the report.
The government said that in 2015, 650 children were living in residential care, with that figure increasing to 2212 by the end of last year – 116 of them aged five and under.
“There is no coincidence that we have a broken child safety system and a youth crime crisis in this state, and we are determined to take action on both,” Crisafulli said on Sunday.
Camm said the sector was reliant on for-profit providers, which came at a high cost to the government. She said her department would aim to transition children from residential care to family-based care.
The average cost of a child in residential care was $350,000 per annum, compared with $35,000 for family-based foster care, Camm said.
The government was unable to confirm how much the inquiry would cost, although Camm acknowledged the expensive nature of such a process.
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