Queensland’s child safety minister has sworn she did not know a botched IT system had its scope reduced before it went live, potentially putting thousands of kids at risk.
The LNP government commissioned an independent audit of the $183 million child safety IT system, Unify, in October last year.
The audit, undertaken by Deloitte, found system gaps had made it difficult for workers to find data and identify crucial information, such as the role of family members and “who was responsible for the harm”.
In late 2023, several features were removed from the system’s scope, including the ability to monitor individualised placement and supports, according to the report released on Saturday.
Ms Camm said she was not brief about any critical issues in the system before it went live. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)
Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said she was not briefed by her department about the level of the system’s de-scoping or any critical issues before it went live last April.
“I did not know about the de-scoping of the functionality of this system, nor the history of the system until we read the findings of this report, and they are damning,” Ms Camm said.
“I had a surety, both in the incoming government briefs I received, as well as the briefs along the way to go live from senior staff, that this system had been developed, designed, and was ready to be delivered.”
Unify users also reported unexpected system shutdowns, with one user having “spent over an hour completing a detailed assessment for a complex case”, but “the data disappeared”.
Staff had to provide the exact spelling of a name to retrieve the correct search results, and there was no option to search by address, according to the review.
‘Increase in risk’
“Time is what matters in assessing risk or alleged risk of harm,” Ms Camm said.
“Throughout that period, there was an increase in risk.”
The government has announced a remedial plan, with a plan to publish operational data within one month and stabilise the system within six months.
But the Labor opposition accused the minister of throwing her department officials “under the bus”.
“It is unbelievable that this LNP minister did not know that this system that is supposed to protect children had failed,” Shadow Attorney-General Meaghan Scanlon said.
Ms Scanlon accused her counterpart of throwing department officials “under the bus”. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
“The fact is, this system was turned on under the LNP. Amanda Camm can continue to try and shift blame onto everyone else; she is the person who turned this system on.”
Documents obtained by the opposition, under Right to Information, show Director-General Belinda Drew had referenced issues with Unify in an email to another senior executive on June 4, titled “update from our recent DG meeting”.
“Our survey has shown an approval rating of just 1.79/10. Staff report that training has been inadequate and many are still relying on ICMS (the previous system) for day-to-day work,” an email read.
The next day, on June 5, Ms Drew had a meeting with Ms Camm, according to her diary notes, included in the RTI documents.
Ms Camm has defended Ms Drew, who entered the role last July.
“As part of this piece of work, an internal audit was undertaken… Ms Drew has her job. Others do not,” Ms Camm said.
“There are other ongoing HR matters … and I won’t be commenting on those at this time.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Child Safety said “zero defects or functionality issues” were identified in a briefing note requesting approval from the director general to “go live” on the Unify system on April 14.
The spokesperson said Ms Drew met with the Together Union and delegates five weeks after Unify was implemented and they reported “dissatisfaction with the system from the departmental staff they surveyed”.
The director general continued to meet with staff and then briefed the minister on September 24 about functionality issues relating to Unify, according to the spokesperson.
“The director general is committed to rectifying the issues with the Unify system.”