This report has been prepared under section 29 of the Family and Child Commission Act 2014. It describes information on the deaths of children and young people in Queensland registered in the period 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020.
This year marks the sixth year of operation for the Queensland Family and Child Commission and the 16th year of reporting on the deaths of children and young people in Queensland. It has brought with it a range of unanticipated challenges as governments and communities around the globe work to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission has risen to this challenge, adapting and modifying its approach to continue its important work to monitor the safety and wellbeing of Queensland’s children. Despite these obstacles, this past year has also heralded some significant achievements for the Commission in terms of its role in reducing and preventing child deaths.
With more than 16 years of data now held within the Queensland child death register, this year the Commission commenced a project to review the trends and patterns in child mortality in Queensland across this significant time period. I am pleased to report that Queensland has experienced a significant decline in child deaths over time—between 2004 and 2019, the child mortality rate decreased by an average of three per cent per year. Significant reductions were also evident in the rate of death from natural causes, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) as well as most external causes. This review did, however, identify a concerning increase in the rate of death from suicide, particularly for young people aged 15–17 years. This is an area I will continue to monitor closely. I will seek to partner with suicide prevention experts to determine how the valuable data held by the Commission can contribute to suicide research and prevention efforts.
This past year also saw the establishment of the Child Death Review Board (Board), for which the Commission provides secretariat support. The Board was established in response to the Commission's 2017 recommendation that a new model for reviewing the deaths of children known to the child protection system was needed. From 1 July 2020, where a child known to the child protection system dies, relevant agencies who provided services to the child and their family in the year prior to their death must complete an internal review. The Board will use these reports to inform its review of the service delivery of the child protection system as a whole. The role of the Board is to identify opportunities for improvement to systems, legislation, policies and practices as well as to mechanisms to reduce preventable deaths. It is anticipated that this revised model will provide valuable insights into ways in which the system can better operate to provide co-ordinated services to vulnerable children and their families, and to reduce and prevent future deaths.