A day in the life of a child advocate

Morning

8:30am

First up I am meeting Quinn* at the Childrens Court. Quinn is 14 years old. Quinn has decided to participate in his child protection proceedings by meeting with the Magistrate to share his views and wishes. Quinn and I meet at the court registry desk. We let the registrar know that we have arrived and are ready to meet with the presiding Children’s Court magistrate. The meeting is being held in the courtroom. No one apart from Quinn, myself (as Quinn’s Child Advocate), the Magistrate, and the Magistrate’s Court Clerk, is allowed into the courtroom during the meeting unless the Magistrate has granted them permission. The Magistrate introduces themselves and sits at the bar table with Quinn. Quinn shares his views and wishes, telling the Magistrate where he wants to live, who he wants to live with, and why. Quinn also shares some concerns he has about his placement and his wish for more family contact. The Magistrate thanks Quinn for coming and explains that his court matter today will be adjourned for the legal paperwork to be finalised.

9:00am

After Quinn’s meeting with the Magistrate, I stay at the Childrens Court for the weekly child protection callover. I have three matters listed for mention today and wait in the back of the courtroom for each of them to be called by the Magistrate. I have permission from two of the relevant young people to share their views and wishes verbally in court during the mention. The third young person asked for their views and wishes to be provided to the court in a letter. The letter was completed last week, and a copy of the letter was sent via email to the court and the relevant stakeholders with the young person’s permission. When the matter is called, I confirm the court received the views and wishes letter. I explain that the young person has decided they do not wish to participate any further now that the letter has been provided and ask the court for leave to withdraw from these court proceedings. The Magistrate confirms they have a copy of the letter on the court file and confirm I have leave to withdraw. Sometimes I can be at court for a few hours waiting for all my matters to be dealt with by the Magistrate. While I wait, I use my time to have discussions with the stakeholders about the progress of each of the matters and review the relevant court documents. Occasionally I have the opportunity to reply to incoming emails and ensure my record keeping is up to date. During each court appearance I record notes about what is discussed, any issues that are raised, and record the order made by the court on my file note. Once court has finished for the day, I ask to be excused and leave the courthouse.

11:00am

I’ve returned to the Office and link into Charlie’s* Family Led Decision Making Meeting via Microsoft Teams. Charlie is a 13-year-old First Nations young person who is subject to orders granting interim custody to the Chief Executive (Child Safety), while the child protection application about her is pending in the Childrens Court. The focus of the meeting today is to develop a new case plan for Charlie. The overall goal is to work towards reunification, which is consistent with Charlie’s views and wishes. The meeting is being held by a Delegated Authority Entity and Charlie is attending the meeting in person. As the meeting is held in regional Queensland, I am unable to attend the meeting in person to support Charlie, but I am able to attend virtually. Other participants in the meeting include the Separate Representative lawyer, Charlie’s Child Safety Officer, and Charlie’s Senior Team Leader. During the meeting, we discuss Charlie’s views, wishes, and goals for the future. Charlie has missed a lot of school and is currently only attending school part-time. Charlie has expressed an interest in attending school more often, meaning one of the case plan goals will be to support Charlie in returning to full time education. Charlie is very shy and can become upset and anxious when speaking about her family. To make Charlie feel more comfortable, I occasionally break up the conversation with questions about things that make her happy, such as her favourite TV show or her favourite sport. Throughout the meeting I occasionally prompt Charlie on topics I know she wanted to discuss, such as her views and wishes around family contact. Overall, Charlie does well to share her own views and wishes directly with the group.”

Afternoon

1:00pm

After lunch it is time for record keeping and administrative tasks. I have been allocated a new referral and spend time reviewing the details provided in the referral about the matter. I write an email to Child Safety formally requesting the required initial information about the matter. After being in court and meetings all morning, I complete my file notes and saved them into the relevant case files. Once this has been completed, I start to prepare for my visit this afternoon. The referral stated that the young person I am meeting is 11 years old and is seeking advocacy support in relation to a child protection application for a short-term custody order to the Chief Executive (Child Safety). Based on this information I make a note to observe the young person’s capacity during the visit, to ensure they understand the child protection proceedings and can articulate their views and wishes. I also prepare some engagement tools to assist me in communicating effectively with the young person about the child protection application.

3:30pm:

Time to get out of the Office and meet with Sebastian*. Sebastian is 16 years old. He attends school full time meaning the only time I can visit him is in the afternoon after school. Sebastian is living in a residential placement. I arrive at Sebastian’s placement and am greeted by a youth worker at the door who welcomes me into the placement. Sebastian is watching TV in the lounge room. Because this is the first time I have met with Sebastian, I introduce myself. I explain that I am here to speak with him about the child protection application and find out what his views and wishes are. Sebastian agrees to turn off the television to talk with me. The youth worker returns to their office while I speak to Sebastian about his views and wishes.

This is an initial visit, so we discuss the child protection application, what it means, and how it will impact Sebastian’s life. We discuss his views and wishes about the application as well as his participation options. During the conversation, Sebastian mentions that his uncle (and previous carer) is fighting to have Sebastian returned to his care. Sebastian explained that he did not want to live with his uncle anymore as he did not feel safe living there. I explained to Sebastian that placement decisions made by Child Safety are reviewable in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT). We discussed Sebastian’s participation options as a subject child in QCAT proceedings and I explained that he does not have to be involved if he does not want to be. Sebastian decides he wants to meet with the tribunal members to explain why he does not want to return to his uncle’s care. Sebastian confirmed that he also wanted to be involved in the child protection proceedings, asking if I could go to the Childrens Court for him to share his views and wishes. I explained what the next steps would be and confirmed what views and wishes Sebastian would like me to share with which stakeholders. I thanked Sebastian for talking to me and confirmed I would be in touch with updates throughout the proceedings. After leaving the placement, I made a note in my calendar for tomorrow to complete my record keeping, file my notices with the Childrens Court, and follow up on the status of the QCAT proceedings for Sebastian. Once that was completed it was time to head home.

*All names have been changed to protect identities