Teenage girl allegedly raped in ‘heinous’ attack at Queensland residential care home

State’s child safety minister Amanda Camm confirms police are investigating alleged attack west of Brisbane

A Queensland teenager has allegedly been raped in a state-funded residential care home in what has been described as a “heinous” act.

A staff member is accused of assaulting the girl, who is understood to be intellectually impaired, at the home west of Brisbane.

Queensland’s child safety minister, Amanda Camm, confirmed the alleged attack was being investigated and said she had zero tolerance for abuse, “particularly when it comes to vulnerable children in care”.

“Queenslanders would rightly expect that anyone convicted of such [an allegedly] heinous offence deserves to face the full force of the law,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

Detectives have been investigating the alleged 20 August assault at the home.

The out-of-home residential care provider, which serves vulnerable children and young people, has been contacted for comment.

The acting deputy police commissioner Rhys Wildman confirmed an investigation was under way, but declined to provide further detail, citing the alleged victim’s vulnerability.

Child safety system ‘broken’

Pressure about the child safety system has been mounting on Camm, after the Liberal National party government claimed it was “broken” before it came into power.

Camm said a commission of inquiry in June found about 67% of reported sexual exploitation in state care involved children in residential care.

“Sixty-seven per cent of children in residential care that have reported sexual abuse allegations is unacceptable,” she said, adding the government did “not have a moment to waste” in reforming the system.

Camm said contracts had been cancelled where residential care providers failed to meet safety and quality standards, and that such providers “have no place” in the system.

The government also responded to 52 recommendations made in the child safety inquiry’s final report , accepting 32 of them while committing $200m to implement them within 30 months.

The 11-month inquiry’s report exposed years of systemic failure, revealing no child had been adopted from state care since 2019.

The government has also been looking to establish an agency aimed at improving the protection of children from sexual abuse.

The attorney general, Deb Frecklington, said a bill to establish the Queensland Protection Commission would be introduced to parliament on Wednesday, with the hope of having it launch in early 2027.

The commission would be a “nation-leading” safeguarding agency for children and vulnerable people, bringing key child protection checks and safeguards under one roof, Frecklington said.

“It is vitally important that we set up an agency … so we can push back on predators to make sure that Queensland children are kept very safe.”

It came after a Child Death Review Board report found there were multiple opportunities missed to stop one of Australia’s most notorious paedophiles, Ashley Paul Griffith.

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