Commissioner speaks at VISION seminar

Commissioner Elizabeth Fraser gave a keynote address at the inaugural ‘Coming Together – Moving Forward’ seminar presented by the Victim Services Interagency Organisation Network (VISION) on 20 October.

VISION is a group which meets regularly to collectively address victims’ needs at an interagency level and provide networking opportunities for members.

The focus of the seminar was to learn from people and agencies working directly or indirectly with victims of crime or acts of violence – about work practices, processes and models that represent innovation, collaboration and development of opportunities for improving service delivery to victims of crime in the future.

The Commissioner’s keynote address included reference to several inquiries* in Queensland which have highlighted how children in state care were, and can be, vulnerable to further harm.

The inquiries led to range of reforms specifically designed to better protect and safeguard the wellbeing of children in out-of-home care. These reforms introduced in 2004 include the expansion and strengthening of a number of the Commission’s advocacy, oversight, investigative and reporting functions.

In particular, three of the Commission’s functions are helping to protect children and young people in care in Queensland from further harm or neglect. These functions are:

• the Community Visitor Program, which is a one-of-a-kind initiative designed to advance the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in state care in Queensland.
• the Views of Children and Young People in Care research, which is a means ofengaging a particularly vulnerable group of children and young people. Insights gained through the surveys help the Commission to identify individual and systemic risks to children’s and young people’s safety, wellbeing and rights, as well as providing first-hand information on the availability and responsiveness of services and programs provided to them. The findings from the Views surveys provide a window into the subjective thoughts and feelings of children and young people in care.
• the framework for reporting on the outcomes of children reliant on the child safety system (JIGSAW), which is a systemic means by which the Commission can independently monitor and report on the performance of the child protection system from the perspective of children and young people.

Other topics/speakers at the seminar were:

• Dr Jeannette Young, Queensland Chief Health Officer
• Adrienne Irvine – Qld Health Victim Support Service
• Restorative Justice and Therapeutic Intervention for young people and victims where a sexual offence is committed – Maurice Crothers, Youth Justice Conferencing & Judy Fox, Mater Family and Youth Counselling Service presentation
• Building service capacity to recognise and respond to a victim who has an intellectual disability – Sandra Seymour, WWILD
• Challenging barriers to men’s disclosure of sexual assault and more – Gary Foster, Living Well, and
• Collaborating in Cairns –  Lisa Golding, Cairns Regional Council for Cairns Victim of Crime Steering Committee

View the Commissioner for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Elizabeth Fraser’s speech and powerpoint presentation presented at the seminar

*The Queensland Government commissioned the Forde Inquiry, held in 1998-1999, to investigate the treatment of children in licensed government and non-government institutions in Queensland, and also established a Crime and Misconduct (CMC) inquiry into Queensland’s foster care system in 2003.

Last Updated: November 5, 2010

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