Double standards ... a state coroner says he fears abuse against black children is viewed less seriously than it would be if they were caucasian.
Aboriginal boy suicides after sisters put in care
Inquest reveals `questionable decisions` by police
Coroner says they wouldn`t have happened if kids were white
QUEENSLAND`S chief coroner has accused police and other authorities of failing to take abuse against black children as seriously as whites.
Queensland State Coroner Michael Barnes, inquiring into the suicide of a 12-year-old boy in January 2004, said police had failed to adequately investigate the alleged sexual abuse of his eight-year-old sister.
Mr Barnes found the Kowanyama boy hanged himself in his bedroom cupboard two days after he and his two sisters had been placed in care.
The inquest was told police made several seriously questionable decisions, including failing to pursue the alleged sex abuse of the girl who had a sexually transmitted disease in June 2003.
Other alarming evidence included the Department of Child Safety`s far northern zone director telling the court she currently had the resources to process only 60 per cent of child protection work on Cape York.
Brenda Campbell said the Cape Torres office now had a backlog of 170 priority two and three child abuse reports "that have not been assessed at all".
In his findings, Mr Barnes said it was perplexing that police simply ceased their investigation when the girl did not reveal any abuse and her adopted father denied molesting the child. "(After the interviews) no further action was taken by police," he said.
"It seems unlikely this would have been acceptable had the child been caucasian and living in a major centre."
It was also concerning no authority had investigated the boy`s absence from school 150 out of 190 days before his death, he said.
The court was told the boy`s death - following his and his sisters` removal from their home by child protection staff - was one of five suicides or attempted suicides by children aged between 11 and 14 at far north Queensland Aboriginal communities between December 2003 and April 2004.
In his conclusions, Mr Barnes noted police had since rewritten their child death policies and the former families department had been replaced by the Department of Child Safety, following the Crime and Misconduct Commission`s inquiry into the child protection system.
Among his riders he called for a review of child protection resources in the Cape Torres child safety office, better training for workers in indigenous communities, greater collaboration between Child Safety, police and health services and for Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) meetings to be held in the children`s home communities.
Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Human Services Coalition director Darren Godwell said the coroner`s suggestion the children were the victim of double standards was "very serious".
"The other thing this report tells us is that Queensland has entered dangerous territory - when the failure of government services contributes to the death of a young Queenslander, then we all need to take stock and lift our game," he said.
Child Safety acting director-general Judy Bertram said the findings were being carefully considered.
She said that since 2004 the number of child safety workers in the Cape area had doubled and individuals` workloads had decreased by two thirds. Branch offices had been opened in Cooktown, Weipa and Thursday Island and a "flying squad" team of senior officers was tackling the Cape York backlog of cases.
It is taken as seriously, but the same actions can't be taken because political correctness prevents it. Whenever they are treated as any white child would be (ie. removed completely from an abusive environment, not just moved to another abusive family member so as to keep them in the community), the self appointed activists (who have usually never been anywhere near an Aboriginal community let alone out of the cafe-latte district in the CBD) cry discrimination and racism, and claim that Aboriginals are being unfairly targeted. We are damned if we do, and damned if we don't. It's time to remove political correctness from the process of dealing with children who are in negative environments, and if they need to be removed or the parents need to be criticised, then do it, whether they are white, black, yellow, brown or green, and the inevitable over-paranoid vocal opposition to it should be completely ignored. The well-being of children should be a higher priority for governments and government agencies than looking bad because some small but loud group of nutters decide to label their well meaning actions as racist.
Posted by: James of Sydney 3:15am today
They can't have it both ways - you can complain they aren't treated as seriously by police, but when police do try and intervene the offending guardians and social engineers usually cry racism and the police see their intervention coming to nothing.Its why cops let so many of the kids go with a warning as its not worth the paperwork hauling them as they are out bloody quick - and its usually the cops that get the slap not the kids!Can't win don't try.Maybe if the parents and guardians would just be decent people this wouldn't be an issue.
Posted by: Ryan of Perth 3:10am today
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