Minister tables Children's Commission reports

Minister for Community Services and Housing and Minister for Women
The Honourable Karen Struthers
12/11/2009
Minister tables Children's Commission reports
 
Community Services Minister Karen Struthers has today tabled a number of annual reports by the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian.

Minister Struthers told State Parliament that the safety of children must be paramount at all times, every hour of every day, every day of the year.

"That's one of the reasons why we established the Commission - to act independently and to protect and safeguard the interests and needs of Queensland children," Ms Struthers said.

"In the reports, one statistic stands out above all others - 519 - that's the number of registered child deaths across Queensland families last year.

"Many of those deaths would have been largely preventable. Around 20% were traffic accidents and most occurred in regional areas with young kids not wearing a helmet or any protective gear.

"It presents parents, carers and the whole community with 519 important reasons why they must continue to do everything they can to protect children and keep them safe from harm. Nothing is more important than that," she said.

The report found that 76% of the deaths of young people were due to diseases, infections and sickness. It also found that Indigenous children died at 2 ½ times the rate of non-Indigenous children.

"We've all got to work at turning those statistics around. The safety of our children is everyone's responsibility," she said.

"As a government we're working hard to close the gap on inequities in health, housing and the economic status of Indigenous communities and there's more work to be done.

"I'm working shoulder to shoulder with Indigenous Councils to roll out a massive housing building program that will encourage local jobs and kick start local economies.

"It's about delivering jobs, delivering housing and delivering a better deal for Indigenous people in remote communities.

"It's hard to focus on getting a job, putting food on the table and living a healthy and happy life if you don't have a safe and secure roof over your head. That's why our housing roll out is so important," she said.