Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Victoria are being removed from their homes at record rates, a new report has warned, and more than 60 per cent of them are being placed with non-Indigenous carers.
The report, Always was, always will be Koori Children, is the result of of the Taskforce 1000 project – a collaborative effort between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Commissioner for Children and Young People established in 2014.
In a foreword to the report, Commissioner Andrew Jackomos writes;
“If we do not confront the reality of the over-representation of Aboriginal children in our child protection system, we risk allowing the ghosts of our colonial history to do more than haunt us. We risk allowing harmful outcomes for Aboriginal children to continue unabated.”
The task force reviewed 980 Aboriginal children living in out of home care, and found family violence and parental abuse of alcohol or drugs were experienced by almost 90 per cent of children.
The task force also found 86 per cent of children were case managed by a non-Aboriginal agency while more than 60 per cent of children were placed with a non-Aboriginal carer. For children with siblings, more than 40 per cent were separated from their brothers and sisters, and were not provided with an adequate opportunity to have contact with them.
Image: Always Was Always Will Be, Koori Children/ Commission for Children and Young People 2016
Recommendations stemming from the report stretch from addressing the factors behind why many children are taken from home to building the cultural competency of organisations that provide services to Aboriginal children in out of home care.
Commissioner Jackomos tabled the report in Victoria’s parliament today.
Chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency and Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Wurrung woman Muriel Bamblett says intergenerational poverty amongst First Nation’s people needs to be addressed in order to reverse the rise of children entering care.
