The Department of Child Safety has come under fire in recent weeks.

Admittedly, they have a tough job, but you must wonder whether children are any safer away from their parents when they are placed in the care of the Department.

The Far North Queensland rape case and recent deaths and injuries to kids in the Department’s care are a real cause for concern.

Locally I believe there is cause for concern about the Department taking drastic action without proper basis.

Two recent cases highlight this.

I reiterate that I know they have a tough job but, in my opinion, the people exercising the power of the department are too young and lack sufficient qualifications and life experience to make decisions in respect of the welfare of children.

The first case involved department officers attending premises and discovering that the house was messy.

The mother had just been released from hospital, having given birth to the couple's third young child, and at the same time, the father was suffering from the flu.

The house had some dishes piled up in the kitchen, some junk mail in a corner and a pile of seven nappies (anyone who has a newborn will know that is only one night or one day of nappies) and a small amount of broken glass in an area in the house where the children did not go.

The Department saw the mess and left the premises, returning with stamped court papers.

When they got back, the home was spotless. This did not stop the officers physically removing a newborn child from the mother’s breast and taking the other two children away.

In the second case, the Department took five children from a single father because he got a bit upset during a phone call with them concerning one child.

In the call about the child, he suggested that the Department had failed to do their job earlier on.

Shortly after, the Department came around and took all five children.

The father said two of those children, who were of a very young age, were placed in the car and driven off without any car seats to secure their safety.

These cases and others show that the Department is under-resourced and under-staffed with qualified people at a senior level to make decisions.

These decisions have a drastic effect upon the emotions of young children.

The Minister needs to have a look at the entire Department.

It needs a shake-up and if the budgetary constraints are what hamper proper exercise of the these powers, then they obviously need more funding.

Only then can we be assured that the people who are in a position to make decisions about taking our children do so with proper basis and after a proper review of any evidence.