"NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour said 30 children at high-risk of abuse killed known to Department of Community Services"
- Details
- Category: NSW Ombudsman
- Created: Tuesday, 23 August 2011 23:30
- Written by Sunday Telegraph
The previous Labor government stripped NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour of the power to compile direct statistics on dead children who had been the subject of a risk-of-harm report.
But in releasing a report on reviewable child deaths between January 2008 and 
December 2009, Mr Barbour did his own breakdown.
He found that of the 57 children who died as a result of abuse, neglect or suspected abuse or neglect, 30 had a profile with the department during the preceding three years.
Mr Barbour's report said that of the 1181 children's deaths in NSW in the two-year period, 77 were reviewable.
The majority of those cases involved very young children, with 46 of them under five.
Aboriginal children accounted for a quarter of the reviewable deaths.
Mr Barbour said children who died from abuse were likely to have been related to the person responsible for their death.
"It is sobering to observe that most of the children who died in abuse-related circumstances died within the family, as a result of the actions of a parent, relative or carer," he said in a statement.
The report said that in 2008 and 2009, 20 children died as a result of abuse, another 23 died because of neglect, while 14 died in circumstances leading to suspicion of abuse or neglect.
Another 20 children died in care.
Most of the children who died of neglect were aged under two, including toddlers who drowned in pools, during sleep or because of the actions of drug- or alcohol-affected parents.
This ombudsman's report on child deaths is the first since the former Labor government passed legislation in April 2009 removing his powers to compile statistics on dead children who were the subject of a risk-of-harm report.
Those powers were transferred to other state government agencies.
