Premier Ben Carroll vowed to act “immediately” after a News Corp investigation exposed horrific cases of children being placed into the care of alleged abusers on Family Court orders.
Mr Carroll on Thursday conceded the cases were “incredibly concerning” and promised he would take immediate action involving state and Commonwealth government counterparts to protect kids from further harm.
News Corp revealed a catalogue of cases in which children caught in parental disputers were ordered back into violent or allegedly abusive homes by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
Among the cases was a Victorian boy returned to his father after he was strangled so badly he required hospital treatment, and two kids taken from their mother by AFP officers on the orders of a judge to use force, smash down doors and handcuff the kids, if necessary.
The investigation revealed how the Family Court overrides intervention orders protecting vulnerable children to place them in the homes of parents accused of violence.