Latest news with #FederalCourt
Sky News AU
28 minutes ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
'Unacceptable': Queensland government launches emergency audit to find hundreds of children missing from state care
The Queensland government has launched an emergency audit to find hundreds of children missing from the state-sanctioned residential care system. More than 12,000 children are currently in Queensland's residential care system through foster, residential and kinship care programs, but out of this figure 780 children have made the decision to leave state-care and "self-place" in a location unknown to the government. The Crisafulli Liberal National Party government is now working to gather the displaced children's names, ages and locations as fears grow they may be homeless or living in dangerous situations. It is understood when children choose to self-place, they lose access to government-backed support services and case management, making it hard to track their location. Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the self-placement of children was "unacceptable", adding it is essential for those missing from the system to be identified. 'Allowing one vulnerable child to self-place in Queensland is unacceptable to me, let alone 780 young people. That's why I have ordered a full audit of the kids in care who are self-placing, what support they are receiving and where they are,' she said. 'It is vital we have an understanding of how we can better support these vulnerable children to get their lives back on track and if they have a youth justice crossover.' Ms Camm said a "clear system failure" was behind the state's growing number of unlicensed operators in residential care who are not bound by strict child protection laws, nor monitored or audited by state authorities. Only 36 of the state's 146 residential care providers are licensed, with 110 unlicensed providers largely operating in the for-profit sector and receiving $474.3 million in state government funding. 'The fact the government had nearly no oversight of unlicensed providers, or recourse to ensure they are delivering positive outcomes for vulnerable children is a clear system failure,' Ms Camm said. 'The residential care sector is a billion-dollar industry built on the back of vulnerable children with taxpayers' money. 'It is critical there is oversight and these organisations know that if they do not perform, the government will act. 'It is critical we take the necessary steps to fix issues when they are uncovered to ensure children are being adequately taken care of. 'This Commission of Inquiry is about accountability, both ministerial and departmental. We need to understand how these system failures happened, so we can ensure they do not happen again.' The figures come as Queensland's 17-month Commission of Inquiry led by former Federal Court judge Paul Anastassiou KC into the state's "broken" Child Safety System holds its first public hearing on Wednesday. The government previously claimed the residential care system is failing children at a cost of $1.2 billion. "There is no coincidence that we have a broken child safety system and a youth crime crisis in this state, and we are determined to take action on both," Queensland Premier David Crisafulli previously said. A separate inquiry is also examining the rules governing unlicensed providers to care for vulnerable children.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Dishonest and fraudulent' scheme: Bankrupt property developers ordered to repay $66m
Bankrupt property developers Sam Fayad and his sons, Fayad-Lee and Remon, have been ordered to repay more than a combined $66 million, which they stripped from one of their companies as part of a 'dishonest and fraudulent' scheme. Federal Court Justice Ian Jackman said that the trio had breached sections of the Corporations Act, which stipulates that directors must act in the company's best interest. In this case, their company, Special Gold, purchased a property on Argyle Street, Parramatta, for $2.6 million in 1998 and sold it for $73.97 million in late 2020. On December 17, 2020, the Supreme Court imposed a freezing order preventing Special Gold from dealing with the proceeds of the sale. On the same day, Special Gold's directors Sam and Fayad-Lee opened a bank account with the State Bank of India (SBI). Five days later, $34 million from the property sale was deposited into the newly opened SBI account. Millions of dollars then flowed from the SBI account to pay for other dealings that the Fayads had on the boil. None of these transactions appeared to be of any benefit to Special Gold and had been prohibited only the previous week by the freezing orders, the judge found. For example, on December 23, $13.25 million went from the SBI account to Remon Fayad's company to purchase shares in another company. 'The payments by Special Gold for those share purchases … constituted a dishonest and fraudulent design on the part of Sam and Fayad-Lee, to the knowledge of Remon,' said Jackman in his judgment delivered on Tuesday.
The Age
6 hours ago
- Business
- The Age
‘Dishonest and fraudulent' scheme: Bankrupt property developers ordered to repay $66m
Bankrupt property developers Sam Fayad and his sons, Fayad-Lee and Remon, have been ordered to repay more than a combined $66 million, which they stripped from one of their companies as part of a 'dishonest and fraudulent' scheme. Federal Court Justice Ian Jackman said that the trio had breached sections of the Corporations Act, which stipulates that directors must act in the company's best interest. In this case, their company, Special Gold, purchased a property on Argyle Street, Parramatta, for $2.6 million in 1998 and sold it for $73.97 million in late 2020. On December 17, 2020, the Supreme Court imposed a freezing order preventing Special Gold from dealing with the proceeds of the sale. On the same day, Special Gold's directors Sam and Fayad-Lee opened a bank account with the State Bank of India (SBI). Five days later, $34 million from the property sale was deposited into the newly opened SBI account. Millions of dollars then flowed from the SBI account to pay for other dealings that the Fayads had on the boil. None of these transactions appeared to be of any benefit to Special Gold and had been prohibited only the previous week by the freezing orders, the judge found. For example, on December 23, $13.25 million went from the SBI account to Remon Fayad's company to purchase shares in another company. 'The payments by Special Gold for those share purchases … constituted a dishonest and fraudulent design on the part of Sam and Fayad-Lee, to the knowledge of Remon,' said Jackman in his judgment delivered on Tuesday.
ITV News
11 hours ago
- ITV News
Man convicted of killing 'milk carton kid' Etan Patz could be freed after US court ruling
The man convicted of one of America's most notorious missing child cases may be freed, after the Federal Court overturned his conviction and ordered a new trial. Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared in 1979 while walking alone to his school bus stop in New York. The boy's disappearance became one of the country's most high-profile cases, with Etan's image among the first pictured on milk cartons. After a decades-long international search for the person responsible, Pedro Hernandez was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to at least 25 years in jail in 2017 for his kidnapping and murder. But the Federal Court has now overturned the guilty verdict, ordering a new trial for the 64-year-old man. The case also sparked a national movement on missing children, including new laws making it easier for law enforcement agencies to share information about missing children and the establishment of a national hotline. The anniversary of Etan Patz's disappearance - May 25 - became the country's National Missing Children's Day. Etan was legally declared dead in 2001, despite his body never being found. But the Federal Court has now overturned Hernandez's guilty verdict, ordering a new trial for the 64-year-old man. Judges have also ordered Hernandez be released from prison unless the new trial can be held within "a reasonable period". Hernandez worked at a convenience store in Etan's Manhattan neighbourhood. He became a suspect in 2012 when police got a tip that Hernandez, who was living in New Jersey at the time, had once spoken to a relative about killing a boy in New York City. There was no physical evidence against Hernandez, but police said that during a seven-hour interrogation, he confessed to attacking Etan. In the recorded statements, Hernandez said he offered a fizzy drink to entice Etan into the basement of the convenience store where he choked him, before placing him, still alive, into a plastic bag and a box, which he left in the street. But lawyers for Hernandez during the trial said they were fake admissions from a man with a mental illness and a very low IQ. The Federal Court overturned the conviction on Monday, saying the judge had given a 'clearly wrong' and 'manifestly prejudicial' response to a jury note during Hernandez's 2017 trial. The Manhattan district attorney's office, which prosecuted the case, said it was reviewing the decision. Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Junior - who oversaw the trial - said Etan's parents may miss out on justice for their son. 'They waited and persevered for 35 years for justice for Etan, which today, sadly, may have been lost,' he said. The 2017 trial had been Hernandez's second after his first trial ended in a deadlocked jury in 2015.
Malaysiakini
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Malaysiakini
Lawyer withdraws JAC Act challenge after govt assures improvements
Senior lawyer Syed Amir Syakib Arsalan Syed Ibrahim has withdrawn his judicial review application filed in May, challenging the Judicial Appointments Committee (JAC) Act 2009. In a statement today, he said he instructed his legal team to discontinue proceedings, including the application to refer constitutional questions to the Federal Court under Article 128(2) of the Federal Constitution. 'This decision follows recent public statements by...
