An inquest has heard that the child protection case for eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs was not “prioritised” or worked intensively because the assigned staff member was “very busy”. The Queensland coroners court also heard that the case worker may have been “overly influenced” by the appearance of the Struhs’ “upper class home”, potentially leading to other cases perceived as more immediately risky being prioritised over Elizabeth’s.
Elizabeth died on 7 January 2022 from diabetic ketoacidosis, after her father, Jason Struhs, ceased providing insulin for her type 1 diabetes. All 14 adult members of the religious sect, including Elizabeth’s parents, were convicted of her manslaughter last year.
The single child safety officer assigned to Elizabeth’s case told the court on Friday that her approach was not intensive and she did not conduct weekly check-ins, despite departmental guidelines. She stated that she had a “big caseload” of approximately 25-28 children across 15 families on the same intervention at the time. The officer also said she may have had a bias as her own child had nearly died of type 1 diabetes and she had asked not to be assigned to the case.
Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard is holding the inquest into Elizabeth’s death. The inquest continues.