About us

The Director of Child Protection Litigation (DCPL) is an independent statutory agency within the Department of Justice portfolio, reporting directly to the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for Integrity.

The DCPL’s purpose is to improve outcomes for at-risk Queensland children and their families by providing greater accountability and independent oversight for child protection order applications proposed by the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety (Child Safety), and ensuring that applications filed in Childrens Court of Queensland are supported by good quality evidence, promoting efficiency and evidence-based decision-making. The DCPL’s purpose is a key part of Queensland’s innovative child protection litigation model.

The Office of the DCPL was also established on 1 July 2016, to help the DCPL perform the DCPL’s functions.

The DCPL works collaboratively with Child Safety, which includes them referring the following types of child protection matters to the DCPL:

• if Child Safety are satisfied that a child, is a child in need of protection and that a child protection order is appropriate and desirable for the child’s protection, or
• if a child protection order is in force for a child, and Child Safety are satisfied the order is no longer appropriate and desirable for the child’s protection, or
• if a permanent care order is in force for a child and Child Safety are satisfied that the child’s permanent guardian under the order is not complying, in a significant way, with their obligations and the order is no longer appropriate and desirable for promoting the child’s safety, wellbeing and best interests.

Once the DCPL receives a child protection matter, it is responsible for independently deciding on behalf of the State of Queensland whether or not an application for a child protection order should be made for the child in the Childrens Court of Queensland, and if so, what type of child protection order should be sought, as well as litigating the applications in the resulting legal proceedings.

Each referred child protection matter that the DCPL receives from Child Safety is allocated to an experienced DCPL lawyer, either a Senior Lawyer or a Principal Lawyer, referred to as an Applicant Lawyer, to be dealt with under the Director of Child Protection Litigation Act (DCPL Act).

If the Applicant Lawyer decides an application for a child protection order should be made, they draft the application and settle the Child Safety Officer’s initial supporting affidavit. The Applicant Lawyer’s decision is based on the professional assessment of Child Safety Officer as to what order is considered appropriate and desirable for the child’s protection, and also on the supporting documents and all other available documents and evidence that are relevant to the matter.

In considering a referred child protection matter, before deciding how to deal with it, the DCPL may ask Child Safety to provide further evidence or information about the matter. This ensures that the State only takes action that is warranted in the circumstances, and that child protection applications made by the DCPL are supported by sufficient, relevant and appropriate evidence, which has been independently considered and assessed by the DCPL.

As noted above, under the DCPL Act, in respect of each referred child protection matter, the DCPL must deal with it by deciding to either:

• apply for a child protection order for the child in the Childrens Court; or
• refer the child protection matter back to Child Safety.

Once the application and initial supporting affidavit is filed, a dedicated DCPL File Lawyer then takes responsibility for managing the resulting legal proceedings in the Childrens Court at the particular location that the application has been filed, working directly with the Child Safety frontline staff in the location. This arrangement ensures consistency in file management, with File Lawyers managing the legal proceeding from the point it is filed until the application has been determined. The DCPL Applicant Lawyer that made the child protection application is then briefed to appear at any complex interim hearings, court ordered conferences and any final hearing.

The Child Safety Officers are not a party to the legal proceedings, rather they are the DCPL’s witnesses.

Child protection matters are referred back to Child Safety by the DCPL because there is either:

• a need for Child Safety to undertake further investigation, which could include Child Safety obtaining further evidence or information, in respect of the reasons why a child is a child in need of protection, and/or the reasons why a child protection order is appropriate and desirable for the child’s protection, and/or in relation to the type of order Child Safety has considered was an appropriate and desirable type of child protection order; or
• the DCPL decide that the child, the subject of the matter, was not a child in need of protection that required a child protection order to be made.

Dealing with child protection matters by referring them back to Child Safety in these circumstances is an important part of the DCPL’s independent oversight function, giving effect to statutory principles about ensuring there is sufficient, relevant and appropriate evidence to support applications for child protection orders and that the DCPL only takes action that is warranted in the circumstances.