Systemic Monitoring and Review Program 

The Commission’s Systemic Monitoring and Review Program is responsible for several key Child Guardian functions. The Child Guardian functions aim to strengthen Queensland ’s child safety and juvenile justice systems by externally monitoring and reporting on the effectiveness of services provided to children in those systems. 

The Systemic Monitoring and Review Program has three teams: the Investigations Team, the Monitoring Team and the Child Death Review Team.

Investigations Team

The Investigations Team undertakes detailed investigations into serious and/or systemic issues relating to the services provided to children and young people in the child safety system and the juvenile justice system. Investigations may be commenced on referral from the Monitoring Team, the Commission’s Complaints Unit or the Community Visitor Program, on referral from another complaints entity (like the Queensland Ombudsman) or on the Commissioner’s own initiative.

Investigations are carried out under Part 3 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 (the Act), which provides powers to:

• access a child,
• obtain information and documents, and
• obtain information under oath or affirmation.

Investigations may be carried out formally (by the issue of a ‘Notice of Investigation’ to the relevant service provider) or informally.

Informal investigations involve using informal resolution techniques including undertaking preliminary inquiries and negotiating outcomes during case conferencing and/or inter-agency meetings.

A formal investigation results in a detailed report to the service provider that may include recommendations to improve service delivery to children. The Commissioner may decide to make an investigation report a public report, by asking the Premier to table it in Parliament.

Alternatively, the Investigations team may, under Part 2A of the Act, require a service provider to undertake a detailed review of its own handling of particular case/s of children in the child safety system. After conducting the review the service provider is required to provide the Commission with a report on the review, and the Commission may then make recommendations to improve services to children.

Monitoring Team

Monitoring Plans (2004-2007)

The monitoring team develops and implements individual Monitoring Plans with relevant service providers (as outlined in Part 2A of the Act). The development of the Plans for the first phase of monitoring was influenced and informed by the CMC Inquiry and other related reports that established the foundation for the reform agenda detailed in the Blueprint.

Monitoring Activities

The Monitoring Team undertakes activities to monitor and review systems, policies and practices of the Department of Child Safety and other service providers who provide services to children and young people in the child safety system.

Monitoring activities are carried out under Part 2A of the Act, which provides powers to:

• require information or documents from a service provider;
• require periodic reporting from a service provider;
• require service providers to review their systems, policies or practices;
• make recommendations to a relevant service provider; and
• monitor the implementation of recommendations made to a service provider.

A monitoring activity is commenced in one of two ways:

1. An area of service delivery identified in monitoring plans; or
2. An ‘ad hoc’ activity, that is, a pertinent issue which has only recently revealed itself to the Commission via internal and/or external sources.

Monitoring activities initiated under Part 2A of the Act often result in a detailed report to the service provider that includes recommendations to improve service delivery to children and young people. The Commissioner may decide to release these reports publicly, by asking the Premier to table the report in Parliament.

Capacity Building

The Monitoring Team also undertakes a number of capacity building activities with service providers in order to work collaboratively with decision makers to improve service delivery to children and young people.

Headline Outcome Indicators

For its next phase of monitoring, the Child Guardian will establish ‘Headline Outcome Indicators’ of the effectiveness of the child safety system. These indicators will represent a broader approach to monitoring and will assist with the monitoring of and reporting on outcomes around the effectiveness of the service delivery continuum. Headline Outcome Indicators should provide answers to the following questions:

• Are at risk families being supported?
• Is the State acting as a good parent?
• Are equal life chances being provided to children in the child safety system as in the general population?
• Are equal health outcomes being delivered to children in the child safety system as in the general population?
• Are individuals being recognised and catered for?
• Is culture being valued?
• Are basic rights being protected and promoted?
• Is support back into the mainstream and/or adulthood being provided?

Consultation with stakeholders will be carried out before the Headline Outcome Indicators addressing the above questions can be finalised. Additionally, detailed monitoring plans will (again) be developed in cooperation with service providers to ensure access to data and information against the measures which will inform the indicators.

Child Death Review Team

Since 1 August 2004 , the Commission has been responsible for a number of functions relating to child deaths in Queensland , including:

• maintaining a register of all child deaths in Queensland based on notifications from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages and details of all child deaths reported to the Office of the State Coroner;
• researching the risk factors associated with child deaths and making recommendations to prevent such deaths occurring;
• preparing an Annual Report on child deaths; and
• providing secretariat support to the Child Death Case Review Committee.

Download child death review functions information sheet

Click here for access to the Child Death Review Teams reports