The ‘therapeutic’ system where kids fall prey to child sex abusers

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The national children's commission says governments must act on years of unimplemented recommendations to keep children in state care safe. It comes after an ABC investigation revealed children in the two-billion-dollar residential care system are being sexually exploited.

Transcript

00:00My daughter has been molested by multiple pedophiles in the last six months and you're

00:07saying that we can't talk to anyone above you? This is Siobhan Stonely asking Queensland Child

00:12Protection Department to move her daughter away from the men who were abusing her.

00:17Back in 2021, the government had put her daughter Saatchi in the residential care system

00:23where she fell prey to people luring her with drugs. It took more than a year for child safety

00:29authorities to act and move her away from the people abusing her. Each year, thousands

00:34of children like Saatchi end up in the $2 billion residential care system.

00:40Many kids escape these group homes notorious for violence, abuse and property destruction,

00:47sometimes falling prey to child sex abusers. The National Children's Commissioner says the

00:52revelations in the ABC's investigation are shocking.

00:56We need some independent monitoring and oversight of what's happening for the safety of children.

01:02The ABC also revealed a Victorian girl currently in care was at risk of death due to the sexual

01:08exploitation she had endured since she was 12 years old. The state's shadow child protection

01:14minister says the government's failure to act is shameful.

01:17They're either completely inept or no, they don't care.

01:21One in three children in Victoria's residential care are believed to be sexually exploited.

01:27A complete overhaul of the system is needed.

01:30The Victorian department says it's rolling out therapeutic supports for every child in residential

01:35care and has invested $4 billion over the past five years.

Category

Transcript

Recommended