Frontline child safety workers have again lifted the lid on a system they say is failing vulnerable Queensland children, pushing them into unstable, high-cost residential care because early support is missing.
A survey of more than 1,100 workers, submitted to the Commission of Inquiry into the Child Safety System by the Together Union, shows overwhelming concern among workers that children are not getting the support they need early, leading to worse outcomes and higher costs down the track.
Workers say the system is driving away skilled staff because it is not properly designed or resourced to keep children safe.
The findings reveal:
- Nearly 9 in 10 workers (88.9%) say there is not enough investment in early intervention to keep children safely at home
- 84% say redirecting funding from residential care into family and community support would reduce the need for costly new investments in care and crisis support
- Residential care placements cost around $400,000 per child per year, with some exceeding $1 million
Together Union Assistant Secretary Dee Spink said the data paints a clear picture that the system is spending heavily at the wrong end once children have already been failed.
“What this shows is that Queensland is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per child once children are already in crisis instead of investing early to keep them safe in the first place,” Ms Spink said.
“By the time a child ends up in residential care, the system has already let them down.”
Workers reported that children — including very young children under 10 years old — are being placed into residential care not because it is the best option, but because there are no family-based alternatives, including foster or kinship carers, available.
Many report that once children enter residential care, their situation often deteriorates, with instability, rotating staff and lack of consistent relationships compounding trauma.
“The billion dollars Queensland spends on residential care each year is not an investment in children’s futures,” Ms Spink said. “It is the cost of everything that failed before they got there.”
“Residential care isn’t a family home and should never become the default because there are no other options left.”
Workers also warned the strained system is placing both children and staff at risk, with more than 77% of workers reporting risks to their own safety and wellbeing on the job, limiting the time and care they can provide to children and families.
Crucially, many workers say the system would fail its own test as a “corporate parent”.
“We hold families to a standard when it comes to providing stability, safety and basic care for children,” Ms Spink said. “But frontline workers are telling us the system itself is not consistently able to meet the standard we would expect from any parent.”
The state of the system is driving away skilled workers who don’t feel they have the resources or support to deliver the care children need.
One worker with more than 20 years’ experience told the survey: “I am very worried that the system is becoming very dangerous for children and that I am no longer able to keep them safe.”
Others pointed to a system stretched beyond safe capacity, where children are missing out on early support, cycling through placements, or ending up in costly residential care as a last resort.
“An agreed safe and reasonable caseload for a child safety officer is 16 children in the ongoing intervention space. Workers are routinely reporting caseloads of 30 or more,” said Lucy Besnard, Vice-President of Together and Child Safety Delegate, who has worked in child safety for the past decade.
“There’s not a single night where we don’t go home and worry about at least one of those children. There was an instance of a worker buying a mattress for their office just to give a child somewhere safe to sleep.”
“Workers are doing everything they can to support these children, but they simply don’t have the resources to provide the care children deserve. It’s not fair on kids, workers, or families.
“This Commission needs to be a turning point.”
Together said the findings highlight an urgent need for greater investment in early intervention, trauma and family support and workforce capacity, warning that without change, the system will continue to fail the children it is meant to protect.
“This is not just a system under pressure — it’s a system that is set up in a way that makes failure inevitable,” Ms Spink said. “Children cannot keep paying the price for a system that workers have been warning about for years.”
Together expects many of these findings will be reflected in the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the Child Safety System, due to be handed down soon.
Ahead of the upcoming State Budget, the union is calling for greater investment in early intervention services, stronger support for foster and kinship care, and a long-term workforce strategy to ensure children can be kept safe in stable, supportive environments.
Contact details:
Amy Price, 0437 027 156