Page 3150 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 9 November 2021
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cycle of intergenerational disadvantage by ensuring that children and young people can stay safe at home wherever possible and remain connected to culture and community throughout their life.
In the 2021-22 budget, the government has invested almost $4.9 million to implement the Our Booris, Our Way review, bringing the total investment from 2018-19 to 2023-24 to $15.7 million. This funding will help drive systemic change to ensure that at-risk Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in the ACT are safe and able to thrive.
Today’s report provides an update to the ACT community on the progress being made against each recommendation. This report is the second six-monthly update and outlines activities and achievements from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021.
The key activities during this period include the commencement of a co-design process to establish a new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s commissioner in the ACT. The ACT government has engaged the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research to facilitate the co-design process. Over the next six months, Jumbunna will work with the Aboriginal community in the ACT to develop and refine the scope of the commissioner’s role.
The activities also include a continued focus on ensuring that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child placement principle is embedded, applied and implemented in all CYPS policies and practices; and the establishment of a cross-directorate committee to develop options to enhance early support capacity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in the areas of drug and alcohol misuse, family violence, mental health, trauma counselling and cultural healing.
The government continues to work closely with the Our Booris, Our Way Implementation Oversight Committee on options for the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled organisation, or multiple organisations, to deliver culturally safe services that respect and preserve the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families engaged with or connected to the child protection and child welfare systems.
While we are making progress against many of the recommendations, we recognise that it remains a source of pain and frustration that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children continue to be over-represented in the child protection system. We know that this is unacceptable. We will continue to work across government and with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to better understand and address the reasons why this is the case. The open communication between the Our Booris, Our Way Implementation Oversight Committee and the government will deliver this much-needed change.
The six-monthly progress report on A Step Up for Our Kids has also been tabled today. As many members are aware, the six-monthly progress report on A Step Up for Our Kids has been presented to the Legislative Assembly since April 2018, with the most recent snapshot report tabled in May 2021. In considering the snapshot report, it is important to note that the data is internal operational data that can be updated and
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