Queensland Child Safety Workers on Strike Amid Stalled Government Talks

Thousands of child safety workers in Queensland have gone on strike over stalled negotiations on pay and conditions with the state government. The industrial action comes as the Together Union, which has been negotiating a new child safety and youth justice agreement since March, claims that the government's inaction has left workers with no choice but to take drastic measures.

Escalating Action

Together Union assistant secretary, Dee Spink, said that members would escalate their action on Friday afternoon. "Our members absolutely don't want to be walking off the job," she said. "They already donate thousands of hours each month to working for this department and not getting paid for it, but they've simply got no choice in the matter because the government's not taking this seriously."

Unsafe Caseloads and Vacant Positions

The union claims that child safety workers routinely handle caseloads of 30 or more children, far exceeding the agreed safe caseload of around 16. Lucy Besnard, a child safety worker, said that this means kids are not getting their needs met. "We really try and make sure that every child and young person is safe, but we know that if we can't get to go and do all the visits that we need to do … we know that we're just not doing a good job by them," she said. "We want to, but we just can't."

More than 100 child safety officer positions remain vacant, the union said. Ms Besnard added that the sector has been asked to do more with less and that they have "just run out of less". She said many members were "sacrificing" being a parent to their own child to ensure children in the system were safe.

Industrial Action and Government Response

Child safety and youth justice workers across Queensland walked off the job for about two-and-a-half hours. Employees brought air mattresses to local members of parliament's offices to highlight cases in which children have spent the night in government offices waiting for suitable placement to be found. In June, the state government confirmed that children in state care have slept in offices but said it is a "rare occurrence".

A Child Safety Department spokesperson said the government has made an offer and is continuing to negotiate enterprise bargaining agreements in good faith. "The department has long established business continuity plans in place," the spokesperson said in a statement. "We will continue to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of children and young people and work to minimise the impact on the delivery of critical services during the work stoppage."

Opposition Response

Labor opposition spokesperson Meaghan Scanlon said the child safety system was in crisis and was hurting the state's "most vulnerable".