Page 3908 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 29 November 2022
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Over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the out of home care system continues to be a significant concern. Twenty-eight per cent of children and young people entering care in the 2021-22 financial year were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. This is equal to the figure of the 2020-21 financial year, and the highest proportion at this end-of-year point since 2017-18. As I mentioned earlier, this represents 40 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people entering care during 2021-22. This compares with 40 also in 2020-21, 34 in 2019-20, 24 in 2018-19, and 51 in 2017-18. As I mentioned earlier, the latest year-to-date figure that I have, to the end of September this year, is 27, which obviously is good but does not necessarily represent a trend, and is still far too high.
As at 30 June 2022, 28 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people had exited out of home care in the 2021-22 financial year, constituting 25 per cent of all children and young people exiting out of home care during that period. As at 30 June 2022, 31 per cent of children and young people living in out of home care and subject to long-term orders with parental responsibility transferred to the Director-General, were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. This figure has remained steady since snapshot reporting began in 2017-18, with it fluctuating between 30 and 31 per cent, as reported at the end of each financial year since that time. This remains an unacceptable level of over-representation and highlights the need for continued work.
As I mentioned earlier, this is why the first domain under the Next Steps strategy is Our Booris, Our Way. The work to implement all Our Booris, Our Way recommendations continues to be guided by the implementation oversight committee. While this work sits alongside Next Steps, it also must be embedded within the strategy to ensure a broader focus on earlier supports for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families that is culturally safe, integrates service delivery and leads with self-determination as a core principle.
The snapshot report indicates that the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the care of the Director-General with a cultural care plan in place has again declined. As of 30 June 2022, 211 children and young people were eligible to have a cultural plan in place. Of these, 173 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, or 82 per cent, had a cultural plan in place, compared to 179 children and young people, or 87 per cent, at the same time the previous year. Throughout 2021-22, the Children, Youth and Families division has continued to review how cultural plans are developed. In August 2021, the cultural panel commenced operation, with all cultural plans being reviewed by the panel. The time line for the commencement of this panel was impacted by COVID-19 service impacts and the availability of suitably qualified individuals.
The focus of the panel has been on the quality of cultural plans, ensuring that plans tell the family’s story of their Aboriginality, and that all sources of the plan are documented and ensure connection, participation, partnership and placement. While this has sometimes delayed the finalisation of plans, it has improved their quality. In parallel, there has been a review of how staff record cultural plans on the Children and Young People Record Information System, CYRIS, resulting in a changed process, and further improvements are planned. These changes are currently being reviewed, with early indicators showing that the dedicated one-on-one support from the cultural team is increasing the overall quality.
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