Australian boy dies from hunger and homelessness after living in a cardboard box.💔😓

A shocking report has revealed the alarming number of homeless children dying on the streets of Australia each year.

The Queensland Child Death Review Board highlighted the failures of a residential care system that has “forgotten how to care,” with numerous children being lost within it.

One tragic example was a young boy who lived in a cardboard box without food or clean clothes before he died on the streets of Queensland. His death was among 70 identified in the annual report, which Greens MP Max Chandler said demonstrates the “completely broken” system.

“This should not be happening in a wealthy country like Australia,” Chandler said. “Stories like this boy’s are not isolated—they reflect the complete failure of our housing, homelessness, and child support systems.”

The boy, who entered care after his only parent passed away, had experienced domestic violence and abuse and was exploited by adults. He spent long hours unsupervised while in short-term accommodation and often returned late at night, under the influence of drugs.

Before his death, he had been placed in four different care homes, spent 12 nights in a watchhouse, and nine in youth detention. According to the report, the boy “was homeless, had no safe place to sleep, lived out of a cardboard box, had no place to shower, no clean clothes, and no food to eat.”

Luke Twyford, chair of the Child Death Review Board, expressed his sadness over the situation, stating that “children are being moved from place to place, lost in a system that has forgotten how to care.”

Adults had exploited the boy, giving him drugs in exchange for committing criminal acts. This case was one of many reviewed in the report, which examined the deaths of children known to the child protection system in the past year.

The report found that for many children, residential care failed to provide the essential needs of “connection, love, safety, and stability.” Nine recommendations were made, focusing on the system’s role as a parent and its response to children and families in need.

It also called for mental health support for all children in care, as evidence suggested that referrals to services were sometimes closed when children stopped engaging. Mr. Twyford urged the state government to establish more prevention services to address the root causes of children entering the protection system.

Chandler criticized government agencies for their lack of compassion, pointing out the contrast between the massive tax benefits given to property investors and the lack of funding for homelessness support services.

“How is it that property investors will receive $176 billion in tax handouts over the next 10 years, while the government says it doesn’t have enough funding to prevent tragedies like this?” Chandler asked. “We’re a wealthy country, and if we truly believe this boy’s life matters, we should fully fund our homelessness support services.”

The number of children in residential care across Queensland has risen significantly, from 951 in June 2019 to 1,763 in June 2023. Of the 70 deaths reviewed, 29 were due to natural causes, five were caused by assault and neglect, three by drowning, six by suicide, eight by transport accidents, and seven by other non-intentional injuries. Twelve deaths remain unexplained.

At least 27 of the children were Indigenous, and 45 were under nine years old. Domestic and family violence, methamphetamine use, and housing instability were the main causes of homelessness.

“We’re paying people to create documents, plans, and safety assessments, but no one is performing a loving and caring parental role. That has to change,” Mr. Twyford said.

Twyford is also overseeing a review of Queensland’s child protection system following significant failures in the case of one of Australia’s worst pedophiles.