Qld police investigating alleged sexual assault of girl in residential care

Queensland police investigating alleged sexual assault of teenage girl in residential care In short: Police say the alleged sexual assault occurred at residence west of Brisbane and was reported to police a day later, on August 21. Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the allegations are "heinous". Today the government will introduce a bill into state parliament to create a new agency to protect children and vulnerable people. Queensland police are investigating the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl in residential care, which the child safety minister has described as "heinous". The allegations come as the government introduces a bill into parliament, to create a new agency to protect children and vulnerable people. Officers have said the alleged sexual assault occurred at a residence west of Brisbane last week and was reported to police a day later on August 21. "I can tell you that that matter is under investigation, it is being taken extremely seriously as you would expect, involving a young person — some of our most vulnerable people in our community," Queensland Police Service Acting Deputy Commissioner Rhys Wildman said. Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said she and her director-general are briefed on any report or allegation of sexual assault. "Can I say how heinous those allegations are, and particularly allegations around a child in child safety and a child in the residential care system," she said. "We take seriously those allegations, and we will go out, reach out to those providers, and we will conduct our own quality assurance to make sure that the safeguards have been put in place." Child protection advocate Hetty Johnston said while any sexual assault was "heartbreaking", she was not surprised to hear of a vulnerable child being targeted. "The fact that as a community, we've got nowhere to go with these children except in a resicare situation is even sadder. "It's not surprising, and it won't be the only one." Dedicated 'safeguarding agency' to be established The government will introduce the Queensland Protection Commission (QPC) bill into parliament today, aimed at improving the protection of children from sexual abuse. Its establishment was a recommendation of a review into one of Australia's most notorious paedophiles. A report by the Child Death Review Board found there were more than 18 points where Ashley Paul Griffith, who was sentenced to life behind bars in 2024 after pleading guilty to more than 300 charges of child sexual abuse, could have been detected or his offending disrupted earlier. "That is what the Queensland Protection Commission is there to fix," said Attorney-General Deb Frecklington. Ms Frecklington said it would be the state's first dedicated child and vulnerable persons "safeguarding agency", and will bring together multiple departments under one roof, like education, health police, child safety and youth justice. "It will create an intelligence hub where information sharing will be a priority, where we can identify predators and we can take action against those predators," Ms Frecklington said. Ms Frecklington also said, under the QPC, penalties for those who do not report to the Working with Children Check Scheme would be doubled. She said since the government took office in October 2024, 31 blue cards had been withdrawn. The attorney-general has promised the Commissioner of the QPC will be independent. The QPC is expected to start work in February.