Queensland services fight to change low milestone numbers for children
A coalition of 26 frontline community services are joining forces to tackle figures showing almost a quarter of Queensland children are not hitting developmental milestones.
Claiming almost a quarter of Queensland children are not hitting developmental milestones, a coalition of 26 frontline community services are launching a campaign to raise standards for families.
They are acting on data stemming from a 2024, Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) grant from Hand Heart Pocket that focused on identify key priorities for supporting vulnerable children, young people and families in Queensland.
The University of Queensland-authored report titled Raising Queensland: Child and Youth Policy Priorities outlines research undertaken between July 2024 and February 2025.
Most notably, the report found that there were more Queensland children living in poverty by the time they start school than in other states.
The report highlights how families are not considered in supporting children, with a lack of accessible housing, health and mental supports, alternative models of education and culturally safe, place-based supports.
Report co-author Professor Karen Healy AM said the research made it clear that more focused attention on access to material basics needed to be undertaken.
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“Access to safe, affordable housing, health and mental health services and education must be enhanced, particularly for families with low incomes,” Healy said.
“All levels of government, working in partnership with the community sector, play a critical role in creating communities that enable families to care for and support their children.”
Today, a coalition of 26 frontline community services are launching the Raising Queensland campaign to raise the standards for Queensland families and children.
QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh said that for too long, families have not had the support they needed to raise their children.
“In the face of a cost of living and housing crisis parents are struggling to afford the basics and many of Queensland’s kids are going without,” McVeigh said.
The campaign calls for a coordinated, whole-of-government Families Strategy to ensure every Queensland family has what they need to support their children.
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“The timing is right – for the first time ever, Queensland has a Families Minister in Cabinet and support services across the state are united behind this Raising Queensland agenda,” McVeigh said. “Together, we have a real opportunity to lift the standard for every child, every family, in every community.”
“When we invest in children and families, we change lives and secure Queensland’s future – Raising Queensland together.”
The campaign lists six ways the government can support Queensland families and children – by developing a Families Strategy, focus on secure housing for families, ensure all kids are learning, improve access to health services, increase income support and invest in community services that deliver for local communities.
The report found 10,511 households with children waiting on the social housing register in Queensland, with more than 90 percent being single-parented households.
The report included the finding that 14 percent of Queensland families were found to have run out of food at some point in the last 12 months.
In regional Queensland, the proportion of rental listings affordable to households on low incomes fell from 36 percent to 14 in recent years.
87 percent of young people in Brisbane and Moreton Bay completed year 12 in 2021, compared to less than 70 percent in far north Queensland.
The number of children in residential care has increased 85 percent over five years, with Queensland now holding 40 percent of Australia’s residential care placements.
Raising Queensland campaign partners include Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (ATSILS), Act for Kids, Anglicare Central and Southern Queensland, Care Goondiwindi, Carinity, CentraCare Far North Queensland, Community Living Association, DCC Industry Group, Edmund Rice Education Australia Flexible Schools, Kyabra Community Association, Lifeline Darling Downs and South West Queensland, Lutheran Services Queensland, Micah Projects, Mission Australia, OzChild, Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP), South Burnett CTC, St Vincent de Paul Society QLD, Stride Mental Health, The Benevolent Society, TRACTION for Young People Limited, Uniting Care, Y-Care (South East Queensland) T/A YMCA, YFS and Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS).
The Raising Queensland campaign will launch on Wednesday, April 1.
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