A three-year-old girl died on May 30, in a unit filled with cockroaches. The child was found unresponsive and covered in dead food and hair. The State Coroner for NSW, Joan Baptie, will investigate the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death.
She will also look into the department’s failure to address the child’s neglect.
On Monday, Chris McGory, the lawyer assisting the coroner, said that an autopsy revealed that the girl died due to bilateral bronchopneumonia.
He also noted that the child had been suffering from an extreme amount of head lice.
The girl’s mother had left several clumps of her hair on the floor when she tried to remove the insects.
According to McGory, the girl and her brother had been living with their mother in the unit, and she was not supported by the community.
Their father, who was also struggling with mental issues, would visit them regularly.
The girl had been enrolled in pre-school, but she did not attend school before her death. The mother believed that the child had a cold around two to three weeks prior to her death.
The child had been sick for a week prior to her death. On May 30, 2018, she was given a drink of milk before going back to sleep.
Her mother then canceled a scheduled home visit with a caseworker from the Brighter Futures program, which is a part of the Benevolent Society.
The caseworker had not been able to visit the family since May 1. The mother then called a medical center to ask for her daughter’s doctor’s appointment, and the father went to the store to buy cough and Nurofen medicine for her.
According to McGory, the mother did not understand the child’s condition, and she did not wake her up after she had placed her in the shower. The child was still unresponsive when the mother tried to wake her.
The father then called the emergency number and asked for help, but the girl could not be revived.
The operators told the parents how to use CPR, but the child was already dead. Paramedics were then called to the apartment at 2.09 pm. The child was found unresponsive in the lounge room, and she was taken to the hospital, where she was declared dead. The unit was reportedly very dirty and had numerous dead insects and rotting food.
According to McGory, the severity of the child’s condition, which was caused by an extreme amount of head lice, was a clear indication of how parental support had deteriorated in the months prior to her death. He also noted that the department and the Benevolent Society had been working with the family. The coroner was expected to look into the actions taken by both organizations.
The coroner was also expected to examine the decision of the department to close the case file of the family and refer it to the Benevolent Society, as the inquest continues.