Police Officer Testifies on Lack of Protocol in Elizabeth Struhs Case

A senior Queensland police officer has revealed that there was no formal protocol in place for sharing information with child safety services regarding criminal charges, in the lead-up to the tragic death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs.

The officer, whose name has not been publicly disclosed, testified at the Coroners Court as part of the inquest into Elizabeth's death in 2022. Elizabeth died at her Toowoomba home after her father, Jason Struhs, stopped administering insulin for her type 1 diabetes.

Elizabeth's mother, Kerrie Struhs, had previously served a jail sentence for child neglect after failing to seek medical treatment for her daughter in 2019. At the time, Kerrie held extreme religious beliefs, telling investigators that she believed God would save her daughter without the need for medical intervention.

In 2019, following Elizabeth's diagnosis with type 1 diabetes, Jason assumed responsibility for managing her medical care. The police officer told the inquest that, at that time, there was no protocol for the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and the Department of Child Safety to share information about criminal charges.

“The motivation behind the beliefs are not as important as the risks posed by those beliefs,” the officer stated in court.

Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard questioned the officer about whether a “lack of curiosity” over Kerrie’s beliefs had led to a “missed opportunity” for further investigation. The officer replied that he would have assumed child safety workers would have monitored the child neglect case through the media.

The inquest also heard that, in March 2020, police had no reason to believe the department was no longer involved with the Struhs family. An Intervention with Parental Agreement (IPA) into the family had finished in December 2019.

By the time Kerrie was released from prison in December 2021, Jason had converted to his wife’s religion and, over the next month, withheld Elizabeth’s insulin, leading to her death just weeks after her mother’s release.

Following Elizabeth’s death, the department again became involved over concerns for her younger siblings. The court heard that QPS has since focused more heavily on people who hold extremist beliefs, introducing measures in June 2026 to flag those who hold an “Ideology of Concern”, including religious, racist, and anti-government beliefs.

The inquest continues.