Queensland Budget 2023-24 – What does it mean for the child and family sector?

The Queensland Budget 2023-24 has been released with a focus on tackling the cost of living, and delivering improved services in health, housing and community safety.

To make it easier to find out what is in this budget for the child and family sector, PeakCare has trawled through the detail and brought together a summary of the key focus areas and budget allocations for:

• Child Safety
• Youth Justice
• Education
• Disability Services
• Housing
• Domestic and Family Violence Services and Justice Systems
• Path to Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Communities
• Seniors and older Queenslanders
• Multicultural Affairs
• Government oversight bodies

Scroll down to see the full summary of what the Queensland Government is focusing on in 2023-24 and how the budget intends to deliver on this.

 

At a glance

PeakCare is excited about the following announcements:

• 15 hours per week of free kindergarten from 1 January 2024 for all 4-year-olds in Queensland is going to make a significant difference for children and families
• Cost of living rebates for individuals and businesses will help address some of the financial challenges many Queenslanders are facing on a daily basis
• A transition to parameter-based funding for tertiary child protection services and a commitment to the ongoing funding of Family and Child Connect, Intensive Family Support Services, and family wellbeing services is a great outcome for the sector
• The significant investment in delivering on the Our Way Strategy and Breaking Cycles Action plan will help eliminate the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families in the child protection system
• The much-needed investment in early intervention and diversionary programs for young people at risk of offending will make a real difference in improving the lives of young people and their families and it will help to keep our communities safe.

PeakCare is worried about:

• The growing number of young people in residential care and the absence of a clear plan to reduce the over-reliance on this model of care.
• The continued financial strain being placed on non-government providers with the increasing cost of delivering services far exceeding the rates of indexation being applied in 2023-24.
• The cessation of temporary financial relief measures for child and family organisations and the widening gap between contracted funding levels and actual service costs for some organisations. Without urgent intervention to correct these funding issues it may only be a matter time before it is no longer financially viable for some non-government organisations to continue providing child and family services in Queensland.
• The ongoing housing crisis and the inability for some young people transitioning from care to secure safe and appropriate accommodation. Crisis accommodation and homelessness is not an acceptable outcome for any young person leaving care.

If you have a question about how the budget may affect your organisation, please get in touch with PeakCare A/Executive Director, Tom Allsop, by email to tallsop@peakcare.org.au. 

 

Child Safety

Government’s focus in 2023-24

• continuing the Family and Child Connect services that are local, community-based services to help families care for and protect their children at home, by connecting parents to the right services to address their families’ needs
• providing Intensive Family Support services, which includes early intervention for vulnerable families with children and young people who are at risk of involvement in the child protection system
• expanding Family Wellbeing Services and Family Participation Programs, in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island community organisations, to provide culturally responsive support services, which aim to improve the wellbeing and safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, children, and young people
• actively working to increase the proportion of children and young people in care living with kinship carers and decrease the number of children and young people living in residential care services, including the Family Caring for Family trial to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people connected with and living with kin
• extending post care support for young people aged 18 to 21 years to continue to walk alongside young people in care as they transition to adulthood and support them to become confident and skilled young adults
• align policies, practices, commissioning, procurement and service delivery with the overarching whole-of-government reform agendas and Path to Treaty commitments, including developing funding models for financially sustainable non-government organisations
• continue implementation of ‘Our Way: A generational strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families 2017–2037’ and supporting action plans to eliminate the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families by 2037 including through implementation of the Breaking Cycles 2023–3031 action plan to continue the partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by focusing on changing the way services are designed and delivered to break the cycles of intergenerational disadvantage
• expand delegated authority arrangements and increase the proportion of child and family funding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations

How the budget intends to deliver on this

• $48.5 million over 3 years from 2024–25 and $16.2 million ongoing from 2027–28 with a further $17.1 million over 3 years from 2024–25 and $5.8 million ongoing being internally met for the delivery of local, community-based Family and Child Connect services that help provide information, advice, and referrals for families in need of support
• $25.2 million over 4 years and $6.5 million ongoing from 2027–28 to support targets to increase the number of children and young people living in kinship care arrangements and decrease the number of children and young people living in residential care, including regional dedicated kin teams to find, connect and assess kinship carers
• $167.2 million over 4 years and $20 million ongoing from 2027–28, with a further $14 million over 4 years and $1.5 million ongoing being internally met for activities and reforms aimed at eliminating the disproportionate overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system and represent a fundamental shift in how child protection, family support and other services work with, and for, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families. This includes:
  • $26.6 million over 4 years and $10.3 million ongoing, with a further $1.5 million per annum being internally sourced, to expand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing Services
  • $22.5 million over 4 years and $9.7 million ongoing to expand Family Participation Programs to provide support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to participate in child protection decision making across the state
  • $1.9 million over 2 years to trial and evaluate Family Caring for Family, co-designed with the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak, in two locations to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island children and young people being connected and living with kin
  • $8.5 million over 4 years, with a further $8 million internally sourced, to build sector capability to ready the sector for the transition of funding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations
  • $107.8 million over 4 years to expand the delegation of statutory child protection authority for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system
• $2.9 million over 4 years and $521,000 ongoing to continue and strengthen the Human Services Quality Framework as the core cross-government quality system for outsourced human service delivery
• $11.6 million over 4 years and $3 million per annum ongoing to administer litigation on behalf of the State, required following the removal of the civil statutory time limit for victims of sexual abuse as recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
• $746,000 over 3 years to continue project implementation work and $10 million per annum ongoing from 2023-24, held centrally, to support establishment of a Reportable Conduct Scheme and support implementation of the Child Safe Standards by non-government institutions.

 

Youth Justice

 Government’s focus in 2023-24

• expand Intensive Case Management in Brisbane, Logan, Toowoomba, Moreton, Gold Coast, Rockhampton, Cairns and Ipswich, to intensively support young offenders aged 13 to 17 years, and their families, to help break the cycle of crime
• expand to Mount Isa and Cairns the Stronger Communities Initiative: Early Action Group currently operating in Townsville, that brings together police and other key government agencies to provide intensive coordination of services to young people aged 8 to 16 years who are at risk of falling into a cycle of crime
• continue to expand Youth Co-Responder Teams, dedicated teams of police and youth justice workers who provide a rapid response targeting young people at risk of offending and young people on bail, into Toowoomba, Fraser Coast, Mount Isa, Ipswich and South Brisbane
• support the expanded trial of electronic monitoring to Cairns, Mount Isa and Toowoomba, including to young people aged 15 years in all trial sites, as a condition of bail
• expand intensive bail support services to Cairns, Mount Isa and Toowoomba to provide assistance to young people and their families and support compliance with bail
• support ongoing diversionary responses to young people engaging in anti-social behaviour including after-hours support, cultural mentoring and alternative opportunities and activities for at-risk young people
• continue to support the rehabilitation of First Nations young people through On Country programs providing culture-based supervision by Elders
• support youth justice workers to participate in the Specialist Youth Crime Rapid Response Squad, in partnership with police targeting high-risk offending, providing specialist support and supplementing local resources across Queensland
• commence construction of a new youth detention centre at the Woodford Correctional Precinct and secure a site for a new youth detention centre in Cairns

How the budget intends to deliver on this

• as part of $446.4 million in whole-of-government funding ($441.9 million new funding and $4.5 million internally funded) over 5 years and $33.7 million per annum ongoing to help boost police resources and tackle the complex causes of youth crime and support community safety, with increased funding of $189.5 million over 5 years (commencing 2022–23) to the department to continue youth justice initiatives including:
  • $5.1 million over 3 years (commencing 2022–23) for grassroots early intervention, with $4.2 million for The Street University Townsville, and $0.85 million for the Townsville Stockland and other shopping precincts crime prevention program and $1.8 million over 2 years to extend and expand the Early Action Group already operating in Townsville to Cairns and Mount Isa
  • $78.1 million over 4 years to extend and expand Youth Co-Responder Teams
  • $25.4 million over 4 years to extend and expand the Intensive Bail Initiative
  • $2.8 million over 3 years for a Fast Track Sentencing pilot
  • $29.4 million over 4 years to make diversion programs ongoing
  • $5 million over 2 years to empower communities to develop local solutions to youth crime issues
  • $2.7 million over 2 years to continue the Townsville High Risk Youth Court
  • $30.1 million over 4 years to extend and expand Intensive Case Management,
  • $5 million over 3 years for the Specialist Youth Crime Rapid Response Squad
  • $4.2 million over 2 years to continue On Country programs
  • $4 million over 2 years from 2023-24 (held centrally) for the expanded use of electronic monitoring of young offenders on bail.
  • $109.9 million over 5 years and $29 million per annum ongoing to address non-discretionary budget pressures in existing Youth Detention Centres.

• Additional investments include:
  • $17.2 million over 3 years to address capacity issues at Youth Detention Centres, with a further $11.6 million reallocated from existing resources.
  • $11.8 million is being used to establish regional response teams and brokerage to provide services and supports to young people detained in watchhouses.
  • $2.1 million is being used to establish a watchhouse response co-ordination unit.
  • $462,000 over 2 years to assist education delivery for young people in watchhouses.
  • $1.4 million is being allocated to continue funding Murri Watch to provide advocacy and support services to young people detained in watchhouses.
  • $8.8 million in 2023-24 is provided for continued preliminary work and procurement activities, including sole sourcing options, on the new youth detention centres, to be located at the Woodford Corrections Precinct and near Cairns, and interim options.
  • $11.7 million, held centrally, to provide services to support strategies addressing capacity issues at Youth Detention Centres.
  • $722,000 over 2 years for health services as part of the Government’s response to addressing capacity issues in youth detention centres. A further $118,991 is held centrally for this measure.
  • $528,000 over 3 years to enhance existing child and youth mental health court liaison services to support the fast-track sentencing pilot in 4 locations for 18 months to address delays in court proceedings through proactive case management of matters. This forms part of the government’s total additional funding of $16.5 million over 4 years for these pilots.
  • $2 million over 2 years from 2023-24, held centrally, to expand the Big Bounce Initiative to provide diversionary programs to youths at risk of offending and rehabilitation programs to youths in detention.
  • $101.6 million over 5 years including continuation and expansion of the Youth Justice Investment to boost police resources, tackle the complex causes of youth crime, and support community safety via Fast-track Sentencing, Youth Crime Taskforce, Police Extreme High Visibility Patrols, Cairns Safer Streets and Midnight Basketball, Police Online Engagement and Intelligence Team, Police Liaison Officer High Visibility Proactive Patrols, Specialist Youth Crime Rapid Response Squad and Stronger Communities Initiative: Early Action Groups.
  • $50 million over 2 years for a program to facilitate Queensland Police-Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) and associated infrastructure development in priority locations; improving frontline social program delivery and intervention initiatives targeting youth offending and recidivism, and victimisation
  • $6 million to implement a Queensland Police-Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) restructure to allow PCYC police officers to focus on social program delivery aimed at the prevention of youth crime through engagement and early intervention, prioritise out of business hours programs and support the After Dark drop in program
  • $1.2 million over 3 years to continue the Youth Crime Taskforce to build on the case management approach of serious repeat youth offenders, strengthening the collaboration of government departments and support agencies to break the cycle of reoffending.
  • $7.1 million over 2 years to support Bail Monitoring, to assist young people to comply with their bail conditions and keep them from returning to custody.
  • $163,000 over 2 years to support the Police Blitz on Bail providing specialist prosecutors to review charges, bail objections and court decisions.
  • $45 million, held centrally, for the Queensland Police Service to support strategies addressing capacity issues at Youth Detention Centres.
  • $832,000 over 2 years to extend the Townsville Early Action Group and expand to Cairns and Mount Isa to help break the cycle of youth crime by dealing with underlying issues that lead some young people to offend including poor school attendance, mental health concerns, drug and substance misuse, domestic violence, and family dysfunction. This forms part of total increased funding of $5.1 million over 3 years for the Early Action Groups.
  • $5.7 million over 4 years, held centrally, and $1.7 million per annum ongoing to improve women and girls’ experiences in watchhouses, on remand, and when applying for bail. This includes for the expansion of the provision of early bail support programs and early intervention services for women and girls to areas beyond Southeast Queensland.
  • $8.9 million over 3 years to deliver a fast-track sentencing pilot in 4 locations for 18 months to address delays in court proceedings through proactive case management of matters (including $4.7 million for Legal Aid Queensland). This forms part of total additional funding of $16.5 million over 4 years for these pilots.
  • $9 million over 4 years to support victims of violent crime, including victims of domestic and family violence, and to assist in more effectively responding to the victims of property crime where violence or a threat of violence has occurred.
  • $4.5 million over 2 years to continue the specialist court established in 2017 as part of the Townsville Community Youth Response. This forms part of total increased funding of $8 million over 2 years for the Townsville High Risk Youth Court.
  • $4 million over 2 years to strengthen youth justice bail laws introduced by the Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021.
  • $5 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to establish community-led, place-based justice reinvestment initiatives to address the underlying causes of youth crime.
  • $400,000 to scope and support enhanced coordination of youth justice, early intervention and prevention services in Mount Isa and Toowoomba.
  • $10 million over 3 years, held centrally, to support a comprehensive independent evaluation of the government’s youth justice response.

 

Education

Government’s focus in 2023-24

• continue to employ additional wellbeing professionals over 3 years from 2021–22 through the $106.7 million Student Wellbeing Package, to provide all primary and secondary state school students with access to a wellbeing professional at school
• continue to implement kindergarten reforms to improve access, wellbeing, inclusion and early learning outcomes for Queensland children
• expand Kindy Uplift from 930 services to all approved kindergarten providers to strengthen the capabilities of educators to respond to the needs of kindy children, particularly those experiencing educational disadvantage
• continue to support over 850 children to attend a face-to-face kindergarten at their local state school through the State Delivered Kindergarten program and a further 150 children to attend eKindy to ensure children in rural and remote areas in Queensland have valuable access to early childhood education

How the budget intends to deliver on this

• increased funding of $645.4 million over 4 years and $189.4 million per annum ongoing, with indexation, to provide for 15 hours per week of kindergarten free from 1 January 2024 for all 4-year-olds, removing the cost barrier to participation in kindergarten, relieving cost of living pressures for Queensland families, improving educational outcomes, and supporting labour market participation
• $1.181 billion over 4 years (totalling $1.654 billion over 10 years), with a further $72.2 million over 5 years held centrally, to deliver critical educational infrastructure to accommodate enrolment growth in state schools including school halls and performing arts facilities, strategic land acquisition and new school construction
• $48.3 million over 4 years for safe and secure teacher housing in regional and remote communities
• $5 million over 4 years to strengthen local school-industry partnerships and support school to work transitions, as part of the government’s total funding package of over $70 million for new initiatives included in the 2022–2025 Action Plan as part of the Good people, Good jobs: Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022–2023 to create a strong and diverse workforce ready to seize today’s jobs and adapt to future opportunities.

 

Disability Services

 Government’s focus in 2023-24

• continue to contribute to the Independent Review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
• implement and promote the new co-designed Queensland’s Disability Plan 2022–2027: Together, a better Queensland, that articulates Queensland’s commitment to people with disability and implements Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031
• partner with stakeholders and advocates to ensure the views of seniors, people with disability and carers inform policy design, national and state reforms and advice to government.
• continue to monitor the Queensland Government’s annual investment of over $2 billion in the NDIS, participate in interjurisdictional governance arrangements, and monitor performance to ensure it is achieving value for money and outcomes for Queenslanders with disability
• support the growth of employment in the disability care and support sector, through the administration of an efficient disability worker screening system, including high quality data capture on clearances issued
• partner with departmental clients, families, guardians and the National Disability Insurance Agency to ensure the needs of Accommodation Support and Respite Service clients are regularly assessed and funded.

How the budget intends to deliver on this

• $16.2 million over 4 years and $2 million ongoing to support the operation of the Assessment and Referral Teams until December 2024, and then from January 2025 to establish and maintain a specialist disability assessment team to support high-complexity clients intersecting with mainstream services
• $17.6 million over 4 years and $4.6 million ongoing to provide specialist disability supports to clients ineligible for the NDIS due to residency requirements
• funding to continue the provision of Accommodation Support and Respite Services to allow continuity of care for people with a disability with the department to register as a NDIS provider and undertake consultation in relation to future service delivery models with key stakeholders, including clients, families, staff and unions.
• $19.3 million over 5 years and $4.6 million per annum ongoing to progress a review of the current Positive Behaviour Support and Restrictive Practices authorisation framework and to continue the current authorisation framework pending implementation of a reformed authorisation framework.

 

Housing 

Government’s focus in 2023-24

• invest in a capital program of $751 million to continue the delivery and supply of social housing as part of the Queensland Housing and Homelessness Action Plan, including within remote and discrete First Nations communities
• invest $250.8 million to provide housing and support to vulnerable Queenslanders, including older women and those experiencing domestic and family violence
• continue delivery of the Queensland Housing Summit outcomes providing $45.2 million over 2 years for critical housing supply, and housing support initiatives
• continue delivery of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Action Plan 2019–2023 to close the gap for First Nations peoples by delivering co-designed, place-based, person-centred and culturally responsive housing, and build on this work through development of the next Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Action Plan
• continue the delivery of the Helping Seniors Secure Their Homes program being trialled in Cairns, Townsville and Mount Isa local government areas providing additional funding of $15 million over 2 years commencing 2022–23. The trial will be expanded to include the Toowoomba local government area and the greater Cairns region, with an additional $15 million provided in 2023–24. This brings the total funding available for this program to $30 million over 2 years
• continue to review Queensland’s rental laws through a public consultation process on Stage 2 rental law reform, followed by economic analysis of potential reform impacts
• continue to review laws regulating site rent increases and unsold manufactured homes in residential parks following community feedback on a Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement.

How the budget intends to deliver on this

• $240.6 million in 2023–24 as part of total increased funding of $1.1 billion over 5 years to continue the delivery of the Housing and Homelessness Action Plan commencement targets, and to expand the QuickStarts Queensland program of new social housing, with a new commencement target of 3,265 dwellings by 30 June 2025. This includes:
  • $322.2 million over 4 years commencing 2023–24 to expand the QuickStarts Queensland program by a further 500 new social housing dwelling commencements
  • $778.1 million over 5 years to continue the delivery of Housing and Homelessness Action Plan commencement targets, including in remote and discrete First Nations communities, and to offset unavoidable cost increases and supply chain impacts in the construction sector and to retain and upgrade dwellings for social housing that would have otherwise been sold
• $48 million in 2023–24 as part of total funding of $64.3 million over 5 years, commencing 2022–23, to purchase, lease and operate emergency supported accommodation in inner Brisbane. This includes $2.4 million which is being met internally by the department
• $37 million in 2023–24 as part of total funding of $54 million over 2 years, commencing 2022–23, for the Immediate Housing Response Package to provide emergency accommodation for families living in insecure and unsafe conditions and rental support to help people maintain tenancies, which includes $5 million in funding provided as part of the Housing Summit outcomes
• $13.5 million in 2023–24 as part of total funding of $32 million over 2 years for operational services including for 3 accommodation sites, to support enhanced services across 5 youth shelters and to deliver specialist mobile supports across 13 new locations. As part of the Housing Summit outcomes, funding of $5 million in 2023–24 is being provided for emergency temporary accommodation. This brings the total funding for this program to $37 million over 2 years from 2023–24
• $6.7 million in 2023–24 as part of total funding of $51.3 million over 4 years for the second Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Action Plan (2024–2027), with a focus on progressing Closing the Gap initiatives, enhancing culturally safe services and delivering innovative housing supply solutions
• $124,000 in 2023–24 as part of total funding of $7.8 million over 4 years to reintegrate women and girls into the community. This forms part of the $225 million response to the recommendations of the Queensland Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce in Hear her voice – Report Two
• $5.4 million in 2023–24 to continue the delivery of critical frontline housing and homelessness services to vulnerable Queenslanders
• $2 million in 2023–24 to provide grant funding to BestLife Incorporated for the Helena’s House Project to support the safe transition of young people with a disability from the family home to a living solution of their choice.

 

Domestic and Family Violence and Justice Systems

Government’s focus in 2023-24

• continue to implement the women’s safety and justice reform program, including development and rollout of innovative programs and models
• continue to invest in integrated service delivery to better support victims of domestic, family and sexual violence
• develop a domestic and family violence perpetrator strategy for Queensland to hold perpetrators to account
• continue the rollout of Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Courts by establishing the specialist response in Brisbane and Cairns
• continue to implement initiatives to reduce rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in incarceration by 15 per cent (adults) and 30 per cent (children) by 2031 under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap
• develop and implement three key strategies that will focus on strategic reform of the criminal justice system, including:
  • an overarching, public-facing criminal justice innovation strategy
  • a co-designed whole of government and community justice strategy to reduce incarceration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
  • a co-designed whole of government strategy for women and girls in the criminal justice system as offenders and accused persons.

How the budget intends to deliver on this

• $58.3 million over 4 years and $20.7 million per annum ongoing to address gaps in domestic, family and sexual violence service provision, and to meet the immediate demand in the sector
• $68.7 million over 4 years and $6.3 million ongoing per annum to respond to the recommendations of the Queensland Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce report, Hear her voice – Report two – Women and girls’ experiences across the criminal justice system. An additional $10.6 million over 4 years and $3 million per annum ongoing to be held centrally

 

Path to Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Communities 

Government’s focus in 2023-24

• take the next steps to redefine the future of the state by establishing the First Nations Treaty Institute and Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry through the Path to Treaty Act 2023
• work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and all Queensland Government agencies to deliver long-term social and economic outcomes for Queensland’s First Nations peoples by progressing the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Priority Reforms and Targets
• continue work to codesign a new, whole-of-government Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Economic Strategy
• drive the whole-of-government implementation of the Queensland Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Procurement Policy
• support the Ministerial and Government Champions Program to work with communities to improve life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• empower young Queenslanders to thrive and ensure their contributions, skills and ideas are recognised through a whole-of-government approach to youth engagement, and create opportunities to influence policy and investment on issues that impact them
• deliver key youth leadership programs, including the Queensland Indigenous Youth Leadership Program and the Queensland Youth Parliament

How the budget intends to deliver on this

• $1.4 million in new funding over 4 years to support engagement on First Nations economic development
• $2.7 million over 2 years to expand the delivery of school breakfast programs delivered by non-government organisations in areas experiencing hardship across Queensland
• $4.3 million to extend and expand food and emergency relief throughout Queensland in 2023–24 to continue the provision of emergency relief supports (including vouchers, food parcels and contributions to payments such as utility bills)
• $4 million capital over 2 years to upgrade and expand the Mount Isa public intoxication diversionary centre, to enable tailored services for men and women, as well as $2.06 million over 2 years for new public intoxication services to be delivered including community patrols and case management support.

 

Seniors and older Queenslanders 

 Government’s focus in 2023-24

• develop the next Seniors Strategy to ensure that older people in Queensland are connected, cared for and have opportunity to contribute to their communities
• assist with cost-of-living pressures for seniors and vulnerable older people through seniors’ cards and concessions

How the budget intends to deliver on this

• $16.3 million over 4 years and $4.3 million ongoing for a range of measures to support and engage with carers and older Queenslanders, including delivery of Seniors Expos, increased funding from 2024–25 for social isolation support services, an extension of the Electricity Life Support concession eligibility, supporting seniors connections within their communities including volunteering and funding to support the Queensland Carers Advisory Council

 

Multicultural Affairs 

 Government’s focus in 2023-24

• continue to deliver the Celebrating Multicultural Queensland program to fund projects addressing barriers to economic and social inclusion of people from culturally and linguistically diverse people.

How the budget intends to deliver on this

• $4.7 million over 4 years and $1.2 million per annum ongoing for multicultural projects that engage people from culturally diverse backgrounds and the wider community to contribute to building a united, harmonious and inclusive Queensland.

 

What will the Government’s oversight bodies be focusing on in 2023-24:

The Queensland Human Rights Commission will:

• continue to work with key stakeholders within the child protection and youth justice systems to urge the embedding of human rights principles within existing frameworks and encourage increased understanding and compliance with human rights obligations

The Queensland Family and Child Commission will:

• release the 2023 Growing Up in Queensland report, using data to illustrate how Queensland children are faring
• deliver the inaugural First Nations Children’s Report, an interactive online report summarising key systemic issues disproportionately impacting First Nations children and young people in Queensland
• launch the Child Rights Report, measuring children’s rights in Queensland.

The Office of the Queensland Ombudsman will:

• continue to establish and implement the Inspector of Detention Services function.