Queensland government admits vulnerable children slept on floor of public service offices | Queensland politics

The Queensland government has rejected claims its policies are further straining a strained child protection system after it was revealed vulnerable children were being made to sleep on the floor of public service offices.

Prime Minister David Crisafulli confirmed on Monday that the approach had been used under his LNP government, but his government said it would often be done in the early hours of the morning when other options were not available.

“Otherwise these kids could be on the streets,” Crisafulli said.

Crisafulli’s comments came after Courier Mail reported over the weekend that children were removed from homes without providing alternative places for them. The publication reported that children in state care were sleeping on mattresses in government offices and that shadow treasurer Shannon Fentiman said the child safety department should be investigated into whether it had breached its duty of care.

It is unclear how often children sleep in child safety service centres, and Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm did not answer a series of questions from Guardian Australia about rates before and after the October 2024 election in which the LNP government was elected.

The Together union, which covers many workers in Queensland’s public sector, told media on Monday the practice was becoming more common. The union told Guardian Australia on Tuesday that children in the child restraint system had been sleeping on air mattresses overnight at Toowoomba and Ipswich West child restraint service centers this month and last month.

Dee Spink, the union’s deputy secretary, said forcing children to sleep in offices “reflects a system that has been stretched for too long by the lack of alternative options.”

He said the union had raised concerns about the issue with the state government on June 10.

Queensland has the highest number of children in out-of-home care in the country, with 12,500, although removal should not be the preferred option under state rules.

The state also has the country’s largest residential care sector, hosting approximately 2,258 children, 78 of whom are under the age of five.

The practice of housing children in public service offices has been used in emergency situations since 2019, when short-term placement options such as hotels were not available.

Youth Advocacy Center CEO Katherine Hayes said it was completely inappropriate for children to sleep in public service offices and would further worsen children’s feelings of uncertainty, instability and lack of trust in the system.

“Children in these types of placements are the most vulnerable and high-needs children in Queensland, and they are also often in dire need, so keeping them in an office environment is really traumatic and damaging,” Hayes said.

Since the conclusion of a commission of inquiry into the sector last month, the state government has stopped children under five staying in hotels and cracked down on unlicensed live-in care providers, canceling contracts with two weeks’ notice.

Guardian Australia understands most contracts will expire on June 30. Camm did not respond to questions about how many people would do this.

Spink said the changes were a “driving force” for increased use of office space.

“This is not something a child safety officer should be doing. They are not there to be the overnight watchdog of young people,” Spink said.

Responding to questions from Guardian Australia, Camm denied the practice had occurred since the conclusion of the commission of inquiry.

“We have been clear that no children have been moved from residential care to the Child Safeguarding Service Centre, so any suggestion that there is a link between the Crisafulli Government’s reforms and children seeking emergency night shelter is false,” he said.

In an earlier statement, he said: “Only in extreme and emergency situations where children are placed in child safety care outside working hours, the ministry provides supervised shelter at a child safety service centre, with stable and permanent accommodation provided within a few hours.

“Although these situations are rare, there are examples dating back to 2019 and no such example has occurred since the Commission of Inquiry decision.”

Camm has not attended a media conference since June 17. Asked Tuesday why his minister did not answer questions, Crisafulli said he was “trying to fix the system that has been broken for 10 years.”

The government must respond to the inquiry’s 52 recommendations within two months.