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Queensland’s major forced adoption service provider has warned the government it must consider the lifelong consequences of adoption as it forms its response to a major inquiry.
The Child Safety Commission of Inquiry’s almost 1400-page report was tabled by Attorney-General Deb Frecklington on Wednesday, describing the number of kids in care as a “measure of failure”.
While many major stakeholders were still digesting the inquiry’s findings and 52 recommendations, Jigsaw Queensland has raised concern about the focus on adoption as a solution.
In a statement, president Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow said the organisation – which helps those impacted by the state’s historical forced adoption practices – noted the significance of the moment.
“The Commission has recommended measures designed to increase adoption as a permanency option,” Sparrow said.
“Yet many people affected by past adoption policies and practices remain deeply concerned about the re-emergence of adoption as a preferred solution for vulnerable children.
“Importantly, while the Commission heard extensive evidence from people affected by the child protection system, it did not hear equivalent evidence from those living with the lifelong consequences of adoption.
“Adoption was discussed largely as a policy mechanism rather than as a lived experience that continues across an entire lifespan.”
Sparrow said that while adoption may give stability and permanence for some, it did not automatically create belonging or erase the impact of family separations.
“If adoption is to play a greater role within Queensland’s child protection framework, robust safeguards must accompany any expansion,” Sparrow said.
She said Jigsaw also welcomed a recommendation to investigate new adoption models that preserve legal and family connections, and hoped to engage with the government on its response.
Other recommendations include for the state to consider becoming a residential care provider, and removing the need for adoption to be a last resort for First Nations children.
The report noted this latter recommendation came despite “strong submissions from First Nations stakeholders against adoption”. Some have been contacted for comment.
Asked at a Thursday morning media conference if the new cabinet subcommittee shaping the government response to the report would consult stakeholders, Frecklington did not give a direct response.
She also suggested the recent departed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner Natalie Lewis, whose tenure was not renewed by the government, would not be replaced.
A policy position statement issued by Lewis before her departure last month noted adoption was “one of the most serious legal interventions the state can authorise in relation to a child”.
“Any proposal to expand, normalise or simplify adoption must therefore be approached with the highest degree of caution,” Lewis wrote.
In a statement of its own on Thursday morning, Noel Pearson-founded First Nations think tank the Cape York Institute welcomed the report and its focus on the causes of harm through a Family Responsibilities Commission.
“The future of child safety depends on strengthening families before harm escalates, and confronting the causes of dysfunction that continue to draw children into the statutory system,” Pearson said.
The Together union, whose child safety members are currently renegotiating a workplace agreement with the government, said the report highlighted an urgent need for more investment in early intervention, trauma and family support, and workforce capacity.
Kelly Jebb, chief executive of PeakCare, urged the government to act swiftly on the report recommendations to deliver meaningful change while avoiding unintended disruption to children.
Appearing alongside Frecklington at Thursday’s media conference, Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm insisted she was “not concerned” by a cratering of the number of urgent child safety matters responded to by her department since last April.
Both Camm and Frecklington said the crisis had arisen under the former Labor government, and it was solely the Opposition that had questions to answer.
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