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‘Quick legislative solutions’ not a solution to child protection
Queensland’s “disappointing” proposed law reform for adoption of children in care may end critical parental and cultural ties, the Law Society has warned.
Naomi Neilson
The Queensland Law Society has expressed reservations on the Child Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020, created in response to findings of significant systematic child safety failures prior to the death of toddler Mason Jet Lee in 2016.
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The Law Society (QLS) warned the “disappointing” proposed reforms could see a large number of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the out-of-home-care system forever cut off from ties binding them to their parents and culture.
President Luke Murphy said the three-week deadline to provide submissions on these laws was “inadequate”, particularly for a reform with significant impacts on children: “It is in these times where we must not look for quick legislative solutions.”
“It is at a time where we, as a community, must come together to ensure that the best interests of all children are protected and that the system’s failures and inequalities are acknowledged and addressed,” Mr Murphy said in a nine-page submission.
“This must also come with recognition of the need that these very frameworks and the systems are funded appropriately to address the demands for child safety services.”
The submission recommends a coroner’s call for adoption as an option for children in care be thrown out in favour of permanent care orders (PCO), which already exist and allow for children to be cared for and also maintain their familial relationships.
“The proposed amendment is unnecessary as PCOs are already available and were established to permit long-term guardianship of a child to a suitable person, other than the parent. PCOs provide permanence and stability for children whilst retaining the connectedness with family, community, culture, identity and language,” Mr Murphy said.
