ABC News (AU)
· collected 2026-09-25 · by Eden Hynninen and Coco Veldkamp
Rebecca and Michael, former foster carers from Ballarat, are heartbroken over the death of eight-month-old Mia shortly after she was returned to her biological parents. The pair had cared for Mia since she was a newborn, but due to court orders, Mia spent time with her birth family as well. Despite concerns about Mia’s initial injuries and ongoing supervision, the court decided to reunite Mia with her parents based on assessments by Tweddle Early Parenting Centre. Three days after returning home, Mia died in hospital, prompting an active homicide investigation by Victoria Police.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-25,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The former foster carers of an eight-month-old baby girl who died just days after being returned to her biological parents say the system designed to protect her failed.
asserted
system → die → her
Rebecca and Michael, whose names have been changed for legal reasons, always knew they would be foster parents.
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they → change → reasons
"You either have that calling or you don't," Rebecca said.
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Rebecca → have → calling
"It's the hardest job, but we have to do it.
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we → have → it
We want to give them [children] some hope … where they get to feel safe.
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they → want → hope
"
Rebecca said baby Mia came into their care as a newborn.
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Mia → say → newborn
"She was three weeks old and had previously had injuries, all internal, when she came to us," Michael said.
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Michael → have → us
Medical notes seen by the ABC noted that Mia, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, had signs of "traumatic injury" including bruising.
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name → see → bruising
But after weeks of care, Michael said things really started to improve.
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things → say → care
"She became the happiest little baby, she just glowed,"he said.
"Like you'd walk into a room, she'd look at you and her face would just light up."
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face → become → you
For six months, baby Mia was raised by the pair, but under an Interim Accommodation Order with Child Protection, Mia would spend four hours, five days a week with her biological parents, as part of supervised visitation.
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Mia → raise → visitation
The pair said during that time, court dates aimed to determine future arrangements for Mia were constantly adjourned.
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dates → say → Mia
"We found out eventually that the report they were waiting for was the report from the investigation into her original injury," Rebecca said.
"We have found out that report was inconclusive."
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report → find → injury
The pair said the magistrate aimed to get the child sent back to her biological parents.
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child → say → parents
They said they were told that support service Child and Family Services (CAFS) and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) told the court they were uncomfortable with that approach.
"
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they → say → approach
So the outcome of that was they couldn't reach an agreement … so they had to make a compromise."
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they → reach → compromise
The court ordered a third party, Tweddle, a statewide Early Parenting Centre, to provide an assessment of the biological parents to see if they were capable of caring for the baby.
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they → order → baby
This involved two rounds of a 10-day residential parenting course that supports families who are engaged with the DFFH.
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who → involve → DFFH
The ABC understands both parents were approved.
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parents → understand → ?
Three days after Mia was returned to her biological parents, emergency services were called to their Ballarat home and found the eight-month-old unresponsive.
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old → return → home
Victoria Police said CPR was administered before she was taken to a local hospital just after 1pm on September 20.
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she → say → September
She was then moved to a Melbourne hospital, where she later died on September 22.
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she → move → September
Victoria Police has been contacted, but would not comment on an "active homicide squad investigation".
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Police → contact → investigation
Tweddle has also been contacted for comment.
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Tweddle → contact → comment
Michael and Rebecca had initially been told by a friend who read a media report that a baby had been injured.
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baby → tell → report
Local support services told the couple Mia was in hospital two hours before her death.
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Mia → tell → death
They were packing up their car to see her when she died.
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she → pack → her
"Our daughter is gone.
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daughter → go → ?
We spent more time with her than any other person on the planet," Michael said.
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Michael → spend → planet
"I just never for one second wanted her to ever think that we abandoned her because even in the last moments, the laws took that away from us.
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laws → want → us
We could have been sitting there holding her and talking to her and holding her hand and giving her kisses for two whole days."
uncertain
We → sit → days
The DFFH said it could not comment on individual cases subject to ongoing police investigation, but said the death of any child was "tragic".
'The whole structure needs to change'
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structure → say → child
The pair said they should have had a voice in what happened to Mia.
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what → say → Mia
"[Foster carers] are far better situated to speak to what a child needs than someone who can sit there in a clinical facility under manufactured conditions and tick a few boxes on a checklist," Rebecca said.
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Rebecca → situate → checklist
"The whole structure needs to change.
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structure → need → ?
It's heartbreaking because why even call it child protection if that's not even what you're doing?"
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you → call → what
Children and Family Service CEO Wendy Sturgess said the death had been a tragedy for the entire community.
"
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death → say → community
Some people are deep in despair, some people are angry, some people are just confused about how we landed here and what more can we do for it not to happen again," Ms Sturgess said.
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Sturgess → land → what
"There'll be coroner reports … but because we're here now, it indicates that something hasn't worked."
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something → indicate → ?
Ms Sturgess said it was likely a part of the system failed to keep the baby safe.
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part → say → baby
…and 8 more, not listed.
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