Unify IT System Fix Begins After Report Finds Flaws

An independent report found bringing the development of Unify in-house and descoping major program functionality led to catastrophic system failures.
The project lacked appropriate governance and oversight from the beginning.
The Crisafulli Government has put a plan in place to fix the issues with Unify, delivering a fit for purpose IT system to protect children and support frontline staff.

An independent report has detailed how a series of decisions to bring the development of Unify in-house, led to tighter timeline constraints, descoping of the project and key functionality not being delivered, all causing significant issues within Queensland's child safety system.

The report reveals major design and development issues of Unify from 2020, including:

In 2020 the project began with an outside business partner but two years later was brought in-house.
In late 2023, a decision was made to remove several functions from Unify, due to timeline and cost issues, the reduced scope "affected (staff) productivity and ability to provide essential services in a timely manner".
In early 2024 the timeline for operational and corporate data reporting was revised, removing most of the reporting functionality from Unify.
These decisions ultimately led to the systematic failure of Unify.

The report outlines the effect of Unify on the frontline, finding:

The number of overdue child intakes grew to 40% in September 2025 - following immediate action to bolster the frontline that number has dropped to 0.6% in February 2026.

The Crisafulli Government has today released its plan to fix Unify and deliver a fit for purpose IT system to protect vulnerable Queensland children and support child safety staff.

120 staff have been brought in to fix Unify under a remediation plan that includes:

Replacing the previous governance structure for the project with a new structure and an independent chair as well as clear direction, responsibility and oversight for progress updates (now complete).
Publishing operational data within one month.
Restoring corporate data within three months.
Stabilising the system within six months through major redevelopment and delivering critical system functionality that was descoped in 2023.

https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/104463

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