The Child Safety Commission of Inquiry will hold its final hearing block next week in Brisbane to consider matters concerning the costs of residential care for children and young people in state care.
The public hearings will be held in Brisbane between Tuesday, 7 April, to Friday, 17 April, at the Harry Gibbs Commonwealth Law Courts Building.
The hearings will start with evidence from senior departmental officials responsible for investing, commissioning, procuring and financing Queensland’s residential care model and evidence from KPMG, which has been engaged by the Commission to undertake an analysis of the critical inputs to the residential care model.
Commissioner, the Honourable Paul Anastassiou KC said the Commission had been undertaking a deep investigation into the residential care model, for several months, behind the scenes.
“A key driver for the establishment of the Commission when announced by the Government last May was the ballooning financial costs of residential care, allied with the increasing reliance on a high-cost funding model known as IPS and increasing reliance upon unlicensed providers,” Mr Anastassiou said.
“These factors combine to raise serious concerns about the financial viability of the residential care model including most significantly whether arrangements that have been in place over the past four to five years deliver positive outcomes for children and young people and keep them and the community safe.
“These concerns will be the focus of the upcoming hearings.”
Proceedings will be livestreamed and will start at 10am each day (with a 10-minute delay for the livestream) unless specified otherwise on the Commission website.
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