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Qld to drug-test parents of at-risk kids

The parents of at-risk kids could have their children taken away and put in foster care if they fail new mandatory drug tests planned in Queensland.

Ice users will have their children taken away from them if they fail new mandatory drug tests in Queensland.

Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman announced the new testing regime on Tuesday, after the horrific death of Caboolture toddler Mason Jet Lee.

Under the plan, parents who enter into an Intervention with Parental Agreement (IPA) order with child safety authorities must submit to being drug tested by GPs.

If parents fail those tests or miss them, at-risk kids will be removed and put in foster care.

The tests won't be limited to ice, but the drug is central to the policy with the minister saying it presents a major challenge for child safety officers.

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Mason was the subject of an IPA before the 21-month-old boy died at the home of his stepfather, William Andrew O'Sullivan, who's facing a manslaughter charge.

O'Sullivan is accused of inflicting a fatal blow to the boy's abdomen that ruptured his small intestine and a court has been told the child died in agony over several days.

Mason was found cold and stiff at O'Sullivan's Caboolture home, where nappies full of blood were also located. Mason's mother, Ann Maree Lee, and O'Sullivan's housemate Ryan Hodson are also accused of manslaughter for failing to seek treatment for the boy.

Ms Fentiman did not mention Mason's case in announcing the drug testing regime, but AAP understands it's part of the government's response to the case.

The minister said the testing regime would give child safety officers another tool to help keep at-risk kids safe.

"If the information suggests that there is ice use, and the children are unsafe, we will remove the children," Ms Fentiman has told ABC radio.

"It will be up to the discretion of the child safety officer and it will depend on whether or not there is a history of drug use, or what sort of suspicions we hold."

On Monday, a fourth child safety worker was stood down pending an ethical standards investigation over Mason's death.

Ms Fentiman has admitted a 300-page internal report into the child safety department's handling of the case exposed "serious errors of judgment" on behalf of staff.

In addition to the four staff who've been stood down, another nine face disciplinary proceedings.

In July, shortly after the toddler's death, government data showed almost two-thirds of child abuse investigations and assessments in Queensland had not taken place within recommended time frames.

Opposition child safety spokeswoman Ros Bates claimed the measures were already in place.

"The minister either doesn't know what her department already can do or she is simply trying to mislead Queenslanders," she said.


3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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