In this 2-part series (originally aired February 2023), we hear the distressing story of 2 tiny girls – Darcey (2) and Chloe (1) —who died, in part because of the failure of the Queensland, Australia Department of Child Safety to heed ‘red flags’.

Darcey and Chloe died after they were left in a car for 9 hours by their mother who is now serving a prison sentence for manslaughter.

The ABC’s Background Briefing podcast revealed that there were repeated warnings to the Department, including by Darcey’s father, in the weeks prior to the children’s deaths.

Darcey had already been in foster care for a time, and was returned to mother with a “safety plan” in place.

However, when alarms were later raised by the father, the Department decided they were the result of a custody dispute and therefore took no action.