The Examiner understands the girl was brought to CSS on Friday by a carer who said she could no longer care for her.

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The girl was then allegedly taken by CSS back to an empty house and left outside. Tasmania Police reportedly picked up the girl after concerned neighbours phoned a police line and attended to her for several hours as the CSS were unable to house her.

Inspector Colin Riley - head of the state police association - expressed frustration that later that night some officers were likely held up from responding to a shooting and stabbing incident because the girl could not be left unattended.

"It is disappointing that in the midst of a Commission of Inquiry, our members are having to undertake the core functions of Child Safety Services, which in turn is impacting on our ability to provide the best service delivery to the community for our core tasks," he said.

The firearm incident involved a 74-year-old man who was stabbed and shot. A woman has since been charged in relation to the incident.

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The girl was reportedly returned to the CSS later on Friday night, but the event has once again raised concerns about the role of police in managing crises outside their "core functions".

Similar concerns were raised earlier this year, when officers drove an unresponsive toddler to the nearest hospital in a police car as no ambulance was available nearby.

Mr Riley said police services could often be inculcated into other departments' capacity response, leaving officers overstretched. He pointed to events like these as a contributing factor to why 10 per cent of the state's police officers are on open workers' compensation claims and 4.2 per cent are fully incapacitated and off work.

"We're just not going to abandon people. We swore an oath, but that oath can be abused by other government agencies," he said.

The Department of Communities and Tasmania Police are prohibited from commenting on specific cases involving minors in care and therefore were unable to confirm their involvement with the girl on Friday night.

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A departmental response said "matters such as these are complex" and pointed to the range of government services - including Tasmania Police and the CSS - that "help to stabilise crisis situations and keep children safe".

The department also confirmed all children attended to by the after-hours service over the past weekend were safe and receiving appropriate care.

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