00:03A community in mourning.
00:06Gathering to honour the life of a four-year-old boy.
00:10Seeing this happen in our own backyard has really hit home for everybody.
00:14Being a social worker you see a lot of things.
00:18This is probably by far the worst thing that I've ever seen.
00:21There's so much that can be done to prevent this stuff from happening.
00:25The body of the young boy was discovered by police
00:28during a welfare check on Saturday afternoon.
00:31Triggered after his mother attended the local police station.
00:34This is just a horrific event.
00:37The loss of any child is something that shocks an entire community.
00:40The 31-year-old woman was charged with domestic violence murder and refused bail.
00:45According to court documents police applied for an urgent order
00:48to collect forensic samples from the mother before charges were laid.
00:52Police sources have confirmed the investigation is examining allegations of cannibalism.
00:57The government says the Department of Communities and Justice previously received and responded
01:02to a number of reports about the family.
01:05The most recent was 18 months ago.
01:08It's now been directed to launch an independent review.
01:11The review will examine the Department's previous contact with the family, why the child was living
01:19with the mother, whether departmental decisions and actions were appropriate, and whether the
01:26Department could have done more to protect this child.
01:29We had an ombudsman report that came out earlier this year that showed that around 65% of children
01:35and young people being reported at risk were not being seen by a caseworker.
01:40And that is because the caseworkers are overworked, and there's not enough also.
01:44A call to action as a community reels from a shocking tragedy.
01:48whale
01:4900
01:5000
01:5000
01:50Amen.
