During 2019–20, COVID-19 set the context for operations of the Commission, as it did globally. It challenged our ability to continue our good work of monitoring and checking to keep children safe, well and heard. It also demanded that we look for new ways to achieve these important goals.
Further to the COVID-19 response and recovery focus, this annual report also acknowledges the ongoing work across the Commission throughout the past year. The Commission had significant success with its 2020 Growing Up in Queensland review, even more so considering pandemic restrictions changed it from a face-to face to an online-only exercise at short notice. More than 7000 young Queenslanders contributed to the survey, making it a historic record of their views on living in the state during the pandemic.
The Commission continued and expanded its oversight function during COVID-19, working with key partners including the Department of Education and the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women to confirm the steps they were taking to maintain visibility of vulnerable children and young people. One of the high points for the function came in June with the completion of the Oversight Strategy 2020–22. This outlines the priorities of the Commission over the next two years, with a focus on improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children by ensuring the child protection system operates in a way that is culturally respectful and responsive. It also prioritises effective collaborations—both within government and between the government and non-government sector—and supporting young people in out-of-home care regarding their education. The Commission continued its system review work to the end of the financial year.
On 1 July 2020, the Commission will take on the additional function of reviewing the deaths of all children who were known to the child protection system. As a result, the Principal Commissioner role will expand to include being the independent Chair of the Child Death Review Board. Much of the second half of the financial year was spent preparing for this significant reform, working with sector partners to develop board governance arrangements and to formally establishing the board as a separate body.