AN extra frontline child safety worker will begin work in the Bayside area by March next year, as part of a push to improve child protection.
It comes as a report shows that only 35 per cent of child safety investigations started within the required time frame in the year to June 30.
The government has been under fire over child care support since June when Mason Jet Lee, 21 months, of Caboolture, died from a series of injuries.
The child safety department’s handling of the case has been questioned and charges have been laid against the boy’s mother.
Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman said the government was investing a further $7.8 million annually to hire 82 permanent child safety workers across the state to bring down caseloads.
“This includes a new child safety officer to be based in the Bayside Child Safety Service Centre in Capalaba to help meet the demand there,” she said.
“Our child safety staff are dedicated and hard-working people and the work they are doing is increasingly complex.
“Staff are working more intensively with families and that work is taking longer.
“We are committed to restoring confidence in this system and to ensure that all service centres across the state have the resources and the staff needed to keep children safe.
“These additional staff will assist existing child safety workers to provide more timely responses to notifications of at-risk children and support care teams to case manage children on child protection orders.
“They include front line child safety officers, support officers, team leaders and administrative officers who will help to keep vulnerable children in Queensland safe and support families who are in crisis.”
Opposition child safety spokeswoman Ros Bates said that fact that 65 per cent of children were not being seen on time was appalling.
"That is 65 per cent of children out there, right now, waiting for someone to come and knock on the door," Ms Bates said.
Ms Bates said Ms Fentiman should be sacked.
Ms Fentiman said although there had been improvements, the figures were not good enough.
“That’s why we have invested in an additional 129 frontline and frontline support child safety workers since June to bring down caseloads from an average of 19 to 17,’’ she said.
Capalaba MP Don Brown said the announcement showed the government was listening to the needs of the community.
“When a child is suffering, our community suffers. Additional staff will mean increased support for local families, and better outcomes for our kids,’’ he said.
These staff are in addition to the 166 employed by Child Safety Services over the past two years and on top of the 47 extra staff allocated in the 2016-17 Budget and to be employed by the end of the year across the state.