This is Queensland’s 11th annual report analysing the deaths of children and young people in this state, focusing on the circumstances and risk factors surrounding external (non-natural) causes of death. This report aims to provide evidence for supporting and focusing child death prevention efforts using the only dataset of all deaths of children and young people in Queensland.
The Commission's Queensland Child Death Register now holds data in relation to 5,413 children and young people whose deaths have been registered in Queensland since 1 January 2004.
Beyond medical causes of child deaths, deaths from preventable causes are relatively rare. But sometimes, despite our best efforts, a set of circumstances and factors will lead to a child’s death that we can’t predict or prevent. Families, community members and professionals have to contend with such tragic outcomes.