The first public hearings in 2026 for the Commission of Inquiry into Child Safety will be held next month in Toowoomba.
The public hearing will be held in Toowoomba from Monday, 16 February.
The hearing is expected to last for two weeks, with a possible third week if required. The hearings will be held at the Toowoomba Court House.
The Commission will hear from Queensland Police Service and Youth Justice representatives, amongst others.
The announcement of the hearing coincides with the Commission’s recent call for submissions on the Department’s role as a corporate parent to children in care, and how the child safety and youth justice systems overlap.
Commissioner, the Honourable Paul Anastassiou KC said the community’s input will help inform the Commission’s work in its review of the effectiveness of the child safety system to keep children and Queenslanders safe.
“Toowoomba is an important region in southeast Queensland. If you want to have a say on the department’s role as an effective corporate parent and the link between the child safety system and youth justice systems, then I encourage you to make a submission to the Commission,” Mr Anastassiou said.
Anyone can make a submission. The Commission is keen to hear from:
– residential (non-family-based) care workers, foster carer or kinship carers
– children or young people in out-of-home care who have also been in the youth justice system
– children and young people in out-of-home care
– community members who have been a victim of crime at the hands of a young person in out-of-home care
– community members who have been negatively affected by children or young people in residential (non-family-based) care in your neighbourhood.
To make a submission, visit: childsafetyinquiry.qld.gov.au/submissions/call-for-submissions-youth-justice-and-corporate-parenting
In a separate matter, the Commission will continue its hearings about the child protection litigation model in the week from Monday, 2 February at the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
This will help better understand the issues concerning the legal process of applying for and making child protection orders, and to hear evidence from part- heard witnesses and witnesses not reached in previous hearing blocks.
The public hearing for the child protection litigation model was held last year, between 8 and 12 December, and heard evidence from representatives of the Director of Child Protection Litigation (DCPL), including Director Nigel Miller and representatives from the Office of the Child and Family Official Solicitor (OCFOS) from the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety.
