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The mother of murdered Logan schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, Cindi, pictured in December.
The mother of murdered Logan schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, Cindi, pictured in December.
Logan
Commissioner apologises to Tiahleigh’s mum after child safety reports
Judith Kerr, Quest Newspapers
September 8, 2017 8:38am
THE 2015 death of a Logan schoolgirl featured largely in three state government reports released on Thursday outlining funding and measures to improve child safety.
The reports into Queensland’s child protection system, foster care system and blue card scheme were drafted after the death of 12-year-old Tiahleigh Palmer, whose foster father was charged with her murder.
The reports were released without informing the girl’s natural mother, Cindi Palmer, who lashed out at the government for leaving her out of the loop. Ms Palmer said she thought the recommendations were a “band-aid fix” but said expanding blue-card qualifications was a great start. She called for any changes to be rolled out nationally because the problems were not confined to Queensland.
Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman told Albert & Logan News it was an oversight.
“The Children’s Commissioner, Cheryl Vardon, who wrote and published the reports, undertook to inform Cyndi but she simply forgot to make the call yesterday,” Ms Fentiman said.
“She has phoned Cyndi to apologise and has issued a statement. Cyndi has accepted her apology.”
Ms Fentiman, whose Waterford electorate covers parts of Logan, said there were already 18 new child safety staff on the ground and about 51 more on their way over the next two years.
She said there were four new staff at the Beenleigh Child Safety Service Centre, three at the Browns Plains centre, two at the Logan Central centre and one at the Loganlea. Case loads had fallen at all three centres since March 2016.
“With our new investment this year we will see even more improvements, and we already know that 21 of these new regional staff are expected to be employed at the Beenleigh, Logan Central, Loganlea and Browns Plains centres within the next 12 months,” she said.
“We have increased the Beenleigh Child Safety Service Centre operating budget by more than 16 per cent from 2016-17 to 2017-18.
“The budget at the Browns Plains centre has been increased by 21 per cent, while at Logan Central is has increased by more than 16 per cent and at Loganlea it has increased by 26 per cent.”