Over a decade after her granddaughter Chloe Valentine died in shocking circumstances, a South Australian grandmother has a vital message to other grandparents.
Document everything, and never stop fighting for your family or loved ones if you fear something is wrong.
"If I knew what I knew now about Chloe I would have camped outside the CEO's office [of Department for Child Protection, formerly Families SA]," she said.
"Hound your local MP. If they don't do anything, go above them."
Belinda Valentine's four-year-old granddaughter died in 2012 after enduring horrific abuse at the hands of her daughter Ashlee Polkinghorne and her then-partner Benjamin McPartland. Twenty-two warnings to authorities from Valentine and others were ignored.
Since Chloe's death there has been a litany of children who have slipped through the cracks including the case of two Queensland sisters who died after being left in a car for nine hours on a blazing hot day.
An inquest in 2024 into the girls' deaths heard their grandmother Deanne Power repeatedly warned child protection authorities the girls' mother was a drug addict and her children's lives were at risk.
In May this year, three child protection workers were forced to stand down after it was revealed Kumanjayi Little Baby was subject to six notifications, including from a relative, in the month leading up to her abduction and murder from a town camp in Alice Springs.
National Children's Commissioner Deb Tsorbaris told The Senior there needs to be a new approach to child protection in Australia.
The commissioner said the majority of investment is in "responding to harm, very little of it is in good family support so they can be better parents".
She said child protection is at the "pointy end" of a much larger network.
When a child is in danger, it is often the result of multiple systems failing together, Tsorbaris said.
"Many families don't necessarily need an investigation first - they need urgent support services, mental health care, housing and parenting assistance.
"When child protection systems are overwhelmed with notifications, there is a real risk the children most in danger are not identified quickly enough."
The findings of a coronial inquest into little Chloe's death in 2015 make for harrowing reading.
Before Chloe died, child protection authorities received 22 notifications about suspected abuse and neglect. Of particular concern was Polkinghorne's drug use, prostitution and relationships with various violent men.
Yet no effective intervention occurred.
In the months before Chloe died, Families SA closed Chloe's file, despite authorities not sighting the child in months.
Chloe suffered catastrophic injuries after she was forced to ride a 50kg motorbike around a backyard while the couple filmed the abuse over three days.
Her death led to "Chloe's Law" in South Australia aimed at strengthening protections for children and preventing parents convicted of killing a child from caring for another child.
But more than a decade later, Valentine, who has since become an advocate for other at-risk children, said many grandparents were still battling overwhelmed child protection systems that fail to investigate at risk children.
AIHW data shows that of the 307,000 children subject to child protection notifications in 2023-24, only 39 per cent resulted in a formal investigation.
A report by the NSW Ombudsman released this year found only one third of child protection notifications were investigated in 2024/2025 financial year.
NSW Minister for Families and Communities, Kate Washington told The Senior that the ombudsman report "confirm what we have been saying for three years - that the child protection system we inherited was broken and spiralling out of control".
"While we have made progress, we know there is a lot more work to do to build a more effective child protection system," Washington said.
Valentine said grandparents who raise concerns often face an uphill task, but her advice was not to give up.
Within child protection there can be an "internal bias" against grandparents because they raised the person who is engaging in the abuse.
She urged worried family members to carefully document concerns, keep detailed records and take emotion out of conversations with authorities.
"You have to be a bit clinical ... If you start talking about what you are feeling about the behaviour of your adult child it muddies everything," she said.
"It is your responsibility to get help for yourself, go to a counsellor, cry and rage, do those things to look after yourself but in this space you have to be child-focused."
Valentine said many grandparents struggled emotionally because reporting abuse often meant reporting their own child. Grandparents can often "minimise, defend or explain" their child's behaviour.
"They see it as a reflection of themselves," she said.
Maintaining contact with vulnerable children is essential, and provide food and clothing if you need, but don't aid the situation by providing money.
Grandparents and other concerned people in a child's life need to continue to report abuse and try many avenues, she said, because notifications may not be investigated.
"You need to know who is in the structure," she said.
Valentine said concerned loved ones should study the child protection laws in their state or territory and look at other avenues to get help such as politicians and children's commissioners.
She also advised to involve police if necessary as they can immediately intervene and provide another layer of documentation.
Never minimize or explain away behavior: Face the reality of the situation honestly. Do not defend or excuse abusive or neglectful behavior out of guilt, shame, or a feeling that it reflects poorly on your own parenting.
Mounting social pressures including the cost-of-living crisis are increasing risks for vulnerable children.
"When adults are under pressure, their coping mechanisms come to the forefront," she said.
"Children are at the mercy of adults' coping mechanisms."
But for Valentine, the grief remains permanent.
She wants no other family to go through what her family have been through and called on governments of all levels to invest heavily in early intervention and support services.
"We have a limb off our family tree that has been ripped off and will never return," she said.
Help is available for anyone who may be distressed
