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The Commissioners’ communiqué provides regular updates on the work of the Principal Commissioner Cheryl Vardon, Deputy Commissioner

Cheryl Leavy and the QFCC, including latest news, events and industry updates.

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On the road with the Commissioners

Welcome to the August/September 2017 edition of the 

Queensland Family & Child Commission communiqué.

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Pictured

centred: Principal Commissioner Cheryl Vardon with Communications, Education and Sector DevelopmentDirector Andrea Lauchs with staff from Logan Family and Child Connect.

Family and Child Connect Visit

Connecting with the community is such an important role for the QFCC. In August, it was my pleasure to visit theLogan Family and Child Connect to speak with staff about the work they are doing to support families in the area.Run by The Benevolent Society, the community-based centre connects families to services to help them care forand protect their children at home.There are Family and Child Connects all over Queensland to support parentswhen they are having a tough time and need a little help.

National Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander Day

National Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Children's Day was celebratedthis year at the Kambu AmarooKindergarten in Ipswich. QFCC DeputyCommissioner, Cheryl Leavy, spent themorning with children, families and staffand had great fun playing games andsinging songs focused on culture and theland. This kindy recognises the importantrole of culture in children’s developmentand involves Elders, communities andfamilies to support students in their culturallearning. It’s so wonderful to see everyoneworking together like this to raise happyand proud Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander children.

Koobara Kindergarten visit

QFCC Deputy Commissioner, Cheryl Leavy, recently spent themorning with the energetic jarjums from Koobara Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander Kindy and Pre-school talking about thethings that make them happy, being strong in culture, family and

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the enjoyment of reading. The 43-year-old kindy at Zillmere, Brisbane was recently thelaunch site for the Queensland Government’s 'Deadly Kindies'campaign, which aims to increase Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander kindergarten participation to at least 95% by 2018.

What's New

Blue Card and Foster Review

On Thursday 7 September, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk released three reports into the Review ofthe Blue Card and Foster Care systems. The QFCC examined the Working with Children (Risk Management andScreening) Act 2000 and its operation and the use and reliance on Working with Children Checks (Blue Cards) aswell as other information in the assessment and approval process for foster carers in Queensland. The Review of the blue card system report makes 81 recommendations to strengthen and streamlineQueensland’s blue card system. The recommendations will also build the capacity of, and support for,organisations and people involved in the system, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In Queensland, the process for being approved as a foster or kinship carer is rigorous but can be strengthened.The Review of the foster care system report makes 42 recommendations to strengthen carer assessment,approval and renewal processes, and to improve safeguards for children in care. These recommendations will alsohelp to build and maintain the public’s confidence in the foster care system. Additionally the review included an examination of Child Safety Services in the Department of Communities,Child Safety and Disability Services to determine whether it was operating effectively and identity any capacityissues or pressure points which may impact the safety needs of children in the child protection system. I am pleased to say that the Queensland Government has accepted all of the recommendations and the findingsfrom the Child Safety Services review have already informed additional resourcing on the frontline.

Strengthening Our Sector

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As part of Child Protection Week, QFCC launched More than Safe – a shared lens through which we can all focuson keeping Queensland’s children more than safe. This commitment was developed with over 80 senior executiveleaders across the child and family support sector and tested with frontline staff at 14 workshops around the state. The development of the More than safe statement is a key initiative of our Strengthening our sector strategy to build a proactive and positive culture in the way we work to support children and families. The core values –committed, connected and courageous – will be embedded into the strategy’s second action plan, and beyond.

In keeping with the message, we also released a new resource to educate Queenslanders on how to keep childrensafe. The Protecting Children online module came at just the right time as a study conducted by Act for Kidsfound one third of Australians would not immediately tell someone if they thought a child was being abused orneglected. I was astounded to read that one quarter of people surveyed believed someone they know has been avictim of child abuse or neglect. Almost half of those surveyed believe everyone is accountable for protectingchildren but one in ten confessed to ignoring a potential abuse situation. The module explains crucial concepts for child protection, including: · everyone’s role in protecting children · having difficult conversations with children and parents · how to spot signs of child abuse and neglect · how to help a child or family you're worried about It is an important resource for all organisations who work with, or for, children to build into staff inductions andongoing training.

To stay up to date with the latest sector news, subscribe to our newsletter here. Laying the Foundations QFCC has partnered with the Community Services Industry Alliance (CSIA) to develop three new research reportsto help the child and family support sector make decisions about its strategic business development needs. We arepleased to announce these reports have now been launched and can be accessed through the link below. Thereports provide a broad organisational profile of the sector and analysed 200 non-government organisations andwhat they look like as a set of businesses. There are insights about the day-to-day reality of the industry and howbusiness functions operate. On top of that, there’s also a broad industry development agenda, which I’m sure you’llfind interesting as well. View the Laying The Foundation document

YMCA – QYP opening ceremony

QFCC attended the opening ceremony of the YMCA Youth Parliament on Tuesday 22 September and met up withthe two young people QFCC sponsored, Youth Member for Redlands Chantel Sustic and Youth Member forWarrego Zoe-Leigh Vaughan (pictured below right). These amazing young leaders were among 93 youth membersfrom around the state who helped prepare the Marginalised and Vulnerable Youth Offenders Diversion andRehabilitation Youth Bill 2017. The bill was developed to address the current youth crime epidemic in Queensland.We were also lucky to have 14 Youth Members join QFCC to discuss the issues important to youngQueenslanders including disability, mental health, abuse in foster care and youth homelessness.

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Sentencing Seminar SeriesQFCC Deputy Commissioner Cheryl Leavy recently took part in a panel discussion for the SentencingAdvisory Council Seminar Series. Events like these are a great forum for everyone who works in, or isinterested in raising awareness of sentencing matters and increasing community understanding of thecriminal justice system. The theme of the discussion was 'What happened with Jake? Understandingwhy young people offend - can we build better responses?' The panel ran a hypothetical which followedthe journey of Jake from birth to his emergence as a juvenile offender. Panel Members Cheryl Leavy – Deputy Commissioner, Queensland Family and Child Commission Leanne O’Shea – Deputy Chief Magistrate, Brisbane Childrens Court Professor Elena Marchetti - A/Chair, Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council Professor Paul Mazerolle – Pro Vice Chancellor of Arts, Education and Law, Griffith University Dr Stephen Stathis – Medical Director, Child and Youth Mental Health Service, Children’s HealthQueensland Dr Jim Watterston – Director General, Department of Education and Training Cheryl Scanlon – Detective Superintendent, Operations Commander, Child Safety and Sexual CrimeGroup, Queensland Police Service

Significant events on the QFCC calendar

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QFCC staff Zara Ward, Jane Reid and Principal Commissioner Cheryl Vardon received the Media and Communciation awardduring 2017 Child Protection Week. Channel Seven CEO Ben Roberts-Smith (right) presented the accolade at ceremonyheld at Parliament House.

Child Protection Week

Queensland Child Protection Week is always an exciting time of the year and 2017 was no exception. DeputyCommissioner Cheryl Leavy, QFCC staff and myself attended a variety of activities and events to raise the profileof all issues connected with child protection, including child abuse prevention, treatment, research, education,service provision and support for children, young people and families.

Remembrance Day

A particular favourite of mine during Child Protection Week is Remembrance Day. It provides an opportunity toacknowledge the people who experienced childhood abuse in institutional settings including out-of-home. Amoving ceremony was held at GOMA at Southbank where the Deputy Commissioner Cheryl Leavy, QFCC staffand myself attended to remember and recognise the failings of the past to ensure childhood abuse never happensagain. Hear Me See Me Exhibition Kicking off the week, the QFCC hosted the Hear Me See Me Art Exhibition. Children across the state were askedto create an original artwork expressing ‘What does safety, love, joy, hope, trust and family look like to you?’ It wasfascinating to learn about the journeys experienced by the children through their artwork and I was delighted toshowcase many of the 300 pieces of art we received with the young artists, their family and friends, and our

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partners at QUT. The next Hear Me See Me exhibition will be held at Townsville City Library throughout Children’sWeek from Monday 23 October. The future belongs to children so it’s important to hear their vision for the kind ofworld they want to live in. Learn more

Stay in touch with the latest from the QFCC:

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Level 22, 53 Albert Street, BRISBANE QLD 4000 Telephone: (07) 3900 6075

Email: media@qfcc.qld.gov.au