Coroner begins hearing from witnesses in Elizabeth Struhs inquest

In short:

A Queensland coroner has begun an inquest examining whether more could have been done to prevent the death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs.

Elizabeth died in 2022 after her parents withdrew her insulin injections due to their extreme religious views.

What's next?

The inquest will hear from 30 witnesses, mostly made up of various departmental staff that had contact with the family.

A coroner has begun probing whether an eight-year-old Toowoomba girl, whose death was caused by the extreme religious views of her parents, could have been "better protected" by state authorities.

Elizabeth Struhs died of diabetic ketoacidosis, after her insulin injections were stopped by her father in January 2022.

Members of her fringe home-based church, including her parents Kerrie and Jason Struhs, were originally charged with her murder, but were eventually convicted by a judge of her manslaughter last year.

During their criminal trial, the Supreme Court heard the group was strongly opposed to the health system, and the use of medications and instead believed in the healing power of God.

Today an inquest began in Brisbane, examining the involvement the Struhs family had with multiple government departments in the lead up to Elizabeth's death.

Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard opened the hearing by welcoming Jayde Struhs, who was estranged from her family at the time of her little sister's death.

"I want to acknowledge the devastating loss made so much harder by the intense public scrutiny and commentary following Elizabeth's death," she said.

"I'm sorry that the job that I have to do reignites this."

Coroner Kirkegaard told the court the inquest was an important opportunity to explore whether her sister could have been "better protected".

She said she was also "very keen to hear about the little girl" from Ms Struhs' perspective.

"I very much welcome your contribution through your family statement," she said.

"What she meant to you and your family and how she is remembered to you."

Thirty witnesses are due to give evidence across two weeks, including representatives from the Department of Child Safety, Queensland Corrective Services, Queensland Health, Education Queensland, and Queensland Police.

All but one person has had their identity legally suppressed by the coroner.

First report made in 2013

The first child safety witness to take the stand testified about a report made to the department in 2013, which resulted in what is known as a Child Concern Report being recorded.

The inquest heard this is a lower-level response, and only a Child Safety Notification would trigger an investigation by the department.

In that report, the inquest heard the notifier advised concerns has been raised with them about Kerrie Struhs being involved in a "controlling" religion "based on the bible".

Loading...The notifier also raised their own concerns in the report about "isolation" and "restriction" of the children, the inquest heard.

The witness told the court they had no current recollection of that specific report, but agreed the context of a parent having extreme religious views would have been "unusual".

However, she said even today, the report did not meet the threshold to escalate the report to a Child Safety Notification, as there was no suspicion that a child had been harmed, or was at risk of harm.

"In hindsight … I would still conclude this was a Child Concerns Report," she said.

The inquest continues.