Our purpose
The Child Death Review Board (the Board) conducts systemic reviews following the death of a child connected to the child protection system under Part 3A of the Family and Child Commission Act 2014.
These reviews identify opportunities to improve the child protection system and prevent future deaths. The Board uses agency information, research and data to make system-wide findings and recommendations for systemic improvements to help prevent deaths that may have been avoidable.
Main functions and powers
The Board has several functions and powers set out in Part 3A of the Family and Child Commission Act 2014. These include:
- undertaking systemic reviews relating to the child protection system following relevant child deaths
- analysing data and applying research to identify patterns, trends and risk factors
- identifying preventative mechanisms to help protect children and prevent deaths that may be avoidable
- making recommendations about legislative change and improvements to systems, policies and practices
- monitoring the implementation of recommendations made by the Board
- reporting annually on its functions, by way of an annual report to be submitted by 31 October to the responsible Minister
- preparing other reports at any time that may be provided to the Minister (with a recommendation about whether to table in the Legislative Assembly). Unless the Minister has tabled the report in Parliament, it cannot be published if it includes:
- personal information about an individual (see the Information Privacy Act 2009), or
- information that may prejudice an investigation of a possible contravention of the law, or a recommendation made by the Board.
The Board does not:
- investigate the deaths of individual children
- make findings about the actions of individuals or assign disciplinary against any person.
Independence
The Board is hosted by the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) for administrative purposes, but its operational functions are not influenced by this. The Board is not subject to direction by the responsible Minister or anyone else about how it performs its functions. The Board is established to act independently and in the public interest at all times.
Policies and procedures
- The Board is established under the Family and Child Commission Act 2014 as amended by the Child Death Review Legislation Amendment Act 2020.
- The Procedural Guidelines support the Board by outlining procedural aspects of its role.
- Members of the Board are required to adhere to our Code of Conduct in all activities related to their work as members.
History
In July 2016, following the death of a 21-month old child, the Queensland Government requested the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) to oversee the reviews by the then Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women (Child Safety) and Queensland Health to:
- confirm whether both departmental reviews into service delivery were conducted thoroughly
- provide any guidance on necessary system changes to improve the system.
In April 2017, the QFCC released its report titled A systems review of individual agency findings following the death of a child. This report found that while Child Safety‘s internal review processes were effective and comprehensive at an agency level, Queensland’s current system of reviewing deaths of children known to Child Safety did not consider or identify the systemic changes needed to protect vulnerable children.
The QFCC’s single overarching recommendation was to ‘consider a revised external and independent model for reviewing the deaths of children known to the child protection system’ that includes the following features:
- a review model scope that extends to cover both government and non-government agencies
- extended powers and authority including the power to make and monitor recommendations
- public reporting on the outcomes of child death reviews
- review of the panel governance arrangements, such as selection and appointment of panel members
- promotion of learning and analysis of decision-making, the timely and transparent consideration of systems issues and inter-agency collaboration during the internal review process.
The Government accepted the recommendation and the Honourable Yvette D’Ath, then Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, introduced the Child Death Review Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 on 18 September 2019. The Bill was assented on 13 February 2020, becoming the Child Death Review Legislation Amendment Act 2020 with commencement on 1 July 2020.
The Act established a new child death review model by:
- requiring more agencies involved in providing services to the child protection system, that is, the Department of Education, the Department of Youth Justice, the Queensland Police Service, and Queensland Health, in addition to Child Safety and the Director of Child Protection Litigation (DCPL), to conduct internal systems reviews of their service provision
- establishing a new, independent Board hosted by the QFCC and tasked to carry out systems reviews following the death of children connected to the child protection system to identify:
- opportunities for continuous improvement in systems, legislation, policies and practices, and
- preventative mechanisms to help children and prevent deaths that may be avoidable.
The QFCC was selected as the host agency for the Board given synergies that include the management of the Child Death Register in Queensland and its existing child death prevention responsibilities.
The new child death review model commenced on 1 July 2020.