Date August 20, 2012 Petrina Berry - AAP Read the article online here

Queensland's chief guardian of children has called for laws to be changed to keep 17-year-olds out of adult prisons.

In Queensland, children in youth detention are transferred to adult prisons when they are 17.

The state's Commissioner for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Elizabeth Fraser has called for the age to be raised to 18 while giving evidence to Queensland's child protection inquiry on Monday.

Ms Fraser said it would be better for 17-year-olds to serve their time in a youth detention centre until they turn 18.

"I would argue (children) under the age of 18 should be treated within the youth justice system as a matter of priority," Ms Fraser said.

The commission is an independent statutory body that protects the rights of young people in detention and oversees the child safety and youth justice systems.

Earlier, the inquiry heard a large volume of non-serious complaints to Queensland's child protection service was hampering efforts to help kids most at risk of harm.

Former Communities Department director-general Linda Apelt told the inquiry the child safety department was often bogged down with complaints that could be better dealt with by other departments, including health and education.

"We are diluting its ability to provide a safety net to those most vulnerable children by asking it to sift and sort a whole range of other concerns that could be better dealt with elsewhere in the system," Ms Apelt said.

The inquiry also heard foster children as young as 12 months old were being "drugged to their eyeballs" in Queensland to control their behaviour.

In a written submission, the Youth Affairs Network claimed seven per cent of children under four years of age in out-of-home care were on medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The not-for-profit group wants the inquiry to delve into what it says is the "over-use" of medication to control the behaviour of children through a form of "chemical restraint".

Network director Siyavash Doostkhah told AAP toddlers were also being given powerful medication.

"Powerful drugs are being used on kids as young as one year old," Mr Doostkhah said.

"Various therapies that do not include drugging these kids to their eyeballs are not being offered."

by: Rosanne Barrett
From: The Australian

YOUTH workers have accused child protection authorities of drugging foster kids "to the eyeballs" as a form of "chemical restraint".

A submission from the Youth Affairs Network of Queensland to the child protection commission of inquiry headed by Tim Carmody, obtained by The Australian, revealed 7 per cent of children under four in out-of-home care are on medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

More than 16 per cent of young people in foster care aged between nine years and 18 reporting taking ADHD drugs, compared with an Australian rate of 6.7 per cent.

YANQ director Siyavash Doostkhah said some children were "drugged to the eyeballs" and were unable to honestly discuss their experiences in out-of-home care.

"There is an issue with the number of young people in care who have been put on psychotropic medication," Mr Doostkhah said. "There is an alarming rate and in a way these kids are being chemically restrained."

He said the incidence of young people in care taking medication had never been widely surveyed.

In a submission to the inquiry, which will resume public hearings today, the YANQ said it had raised concerns with the government since 2002.

"The inaction of government over this time has seen a massive jump in the number of Queensland children who are being medicated," the submission said.

The inquiry is tasked with charting a course to a more effective and efficient child-protection system amid escalating costs and reports.

One in every four Queensland children will be reported to the child safety department this financial year.

More than 8000 children are in out-of-home care. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care jumped 90 per cent in six years.

Former Communities Department director-general Linda Apelt is expected to give evidence today, followed by Commissioner for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Elizabeth Fraser.

Police Child Safety and Sexual Crime Group Superintendent Cameron Harsley may also appear.