Amanda Camm has stepped down as Queensland’s minister for child safety and the prevention of domestic and family violence. She cited her health, the workload of the role and a year of harassment and threats.
The Whitsunday MP confirmed the decision on Friday 23 October, ABC News reported. She had advised the premier of it on Thursday 22 October. Brisbane Times says she told him late on Thursday.
Camm also served as Families, Seniors and Disability Services Minister, according to Brisbane Times. She told reporters on Friday that the decision was hers alone, the Guardian reported.
In Her Words
Camm had been back at work for about a fortnight before the announcement. She returned from six weeks’ sick leave after major surgery, ABC News reported.
She said her recovery “would not be aided by the position of minister, the ongoing stresses associated with that role and the workload”, according to ABC News.
She also addressed the option of more time off. “It would be unfair to the government for me to take further leave,” she said, the Guardian reported.
Then she turned to the past year.
“Public scrutiny and accountability are essential to democracy and to our institutions,” Camm said, according to ABC News. “Harassment, threats, bullying and personal vilification are not. And for the past year this has been my experience.”
She said the alleged attack on federal MP Helen Haines had reinforced the importance of personal safety, the Guardian reported.
A Portfolio Under Scrutiny
Camm’s time in the role drew months of scrutiny. ABC News reported concerns over children in residential care sleeping on the floor of child safety offices, and over cuts to the domestic and family violence prevention sector in the state budget. Brisbane Times reports a $38.5 million cut to the domestic and family violence services budget.
She oversaw the response to two major child safety reviews, including the In Plain Sight report, according to ABC News. A Commission of Inquiry into Queensland’s Child Safety System, handed down in May, made 52 recommendations.
Camm defended her record. “I have delivered the biggest reform to these portfolios in the last two years than any minister before me,” she said, ABC News reported.
She was elected in 2020. She did not commit to recontesting Whitsunday, according to ABC News.
The Premier and the Opposition
Premier David Crisafulli said Camm had not been removed over her performance, the Guardian reported. He said she came into a “broken” child safety system, according to ABC News.
He also spoke about her decision to explain it in public. “She’s standing here before you, explaining her personal situation, and that takes a lot of ticker,” Crisafulli said, Brisbane Times reported.
The ABC understands the resignation triggers a mini reshuffle, the first frontbench movement since Crisafulli came to power in 2024. Crisafulli said there would be no wider reshuffle, Brisbane Times reported. He confirmed the portfolios would not be split up, according to ABC News.
In September, prw reported on Queensland’s credit rating downgrade by S&P under the Crisafulli government.
Opposition Leader Steven Miles urged the premier to appoint a senior, experienced minister. “It is absolutely critical that David Crisafulli … chooses a senior and experienced minister to take on this portfolio,” Miles said, according to ABC News.
Who Takes the Portfolio
A replacement had not been named at the time of writing on Friday 23 October. The Guardian reported that one was expected later that day.
Former senator Amanda Stoker is among those considered in the frame for promotion, according to the Guardian.
For now, the child safety and domestic and family violence portfolio is waiting on the premier’s choice.
More state and federal politics is in prw’s Politics archive.
Sources: ABC News, “Queensland’s child safety and domestic violence minister Amanda Camm steps down”, 23 October 2026 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-23/qld-government-amanda-camm-steps-down/107299642); The Guardian, “Embattled Queensland minister Amanda Camm quits Crisafulli frontbench citing health and safety reasons”, 23 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/23/embattled-qld-mininster-amanda-camm-quits-crisafulli-frontbench-citing-health-and-safety-reasons); Brisbane Times, “Embattled Queensland minister resigns from cabinet”, 23 October 2026 (https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/embattled-queensland-minister-resigns-from-cabinet-20261023-p6180d.html)
Photo: John Robert McPherson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Illustrative: the garden courtyard behind Queensland’s Parliament House on George Street, Brisbane, in a 2011 photograph. Amanda Camm is the member for Whitsunday.
