New Child Rights Report warns Queensland systems are still failing children

• New report finds growing pressure in child protection and an increasingly punitive approach in youth justice.
• Despite decades of inquiries and reform commitments, persistent gaps remain in how children’s rights are realised in practice. 

• Calls for a whole-of-government Children’s Plan to coordinate Queensland’s response across systems.

Too many children in Queensland are still being failed by the systems meant to protect and support them, according to a new report.

The 2025 Queensland Child Rights Report launched today by state’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner Natalie Lewis, comes as the Commission of Inquiry into Queensland’s Child Safety System continues its examination of the state’s child protection system.

Today’s report assesses how well Queensland’s laws, policies and services are protecting children’s rights across youth justice, child protection, education and health.

It identifies growing pressure in the child protection system, including rising demand, instability for children in care, and gaps in early family support, with many children entering the system only after families have struggled to access help earlier.

The report also highlights the continued over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection, and a growing reliance on enforcement and detention in youth justice policy despite strong evidence that prevention and early intervention are more effective.

Children often move between multiple systems including child protection, youth justice, education, housing, and health, yet government responses remain fragmented. The report calls for a whole-of-government Children’s Plan for Queensland to align policy, investment and accountability.

The report also draws on the voices of children and young people, including members of the Bandarran Marra’gu Youth Collective which centres the lived experiences, leadership and cultural knowledge of First Nations young people.

Commissioner Natalie Lewis said stronger protection of children’s rights was essential.

“Children’s rights are human rights, and governments have a responsibility to protect them in law, policy and practice.

“Monitoring rights and how they are promoted and protected for our children gives us an objective and consistent test for policy and practice, with goal posts that don’t shift. 

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children remain dramatically over-represented in the child protection system — one of the most serious child rights challenges facing Queensland.

“Most children who come into contact with youth justice have experienced trauma, poverty, instability, disability and unmet support needs. Punishment alone will never address those realities.

“Evidence consistently shows that prevention, early intervention and community-based responses are far more effective in reducing reoffending and improving outcomes for children.

"That is why we need a Children’s Plan for Queensland: as a clear statement of our ongoing responsibility for all children, now and into the future.

“Without cross-portfolio coordination and an overt commitment to embedding children’s rights across every decision affecting their lives, meaningful systemic change will remain out of reach.” 

To read the Queensland Child Rights Report 2025, visit https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/childrights/report. 

ENDS

For media information contact:
Vanessa Kendall | Queensland Family and Child Commission
Phone: 0423 565 108
Email: media@qfcc.qld.gov.au