Page 3521 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 12 September 2017
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ACT government and me, both as Minister for Disability, Children and Youth and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. I was therefore pleased recently to announce a comprehensive review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people involved with the ACT child protection system.
The over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care is a national problem. However, this problem has also been intractable in the ACT. For a decade we have consistently seen that around one in four children in out of home care is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT are 12 times more likely to be in out of home care than non-Indigenous children. Despite being one of the most affluent communities in the country, we have the third highest rate of over-representation, according to the latest Child protection Australia report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Recent reports, like The family matters report—measuring trends to turn the tide on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child safety and removal and the Victorian Taskforce 1000 report Always was, always will be Koori children, have highlighted the national issue of over-representation and the need to respond to its drivers. They have also emphasised the growing impatience of the community in seeking to arrest the high numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people coming into out of home care.
The specific reasons for the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection are complex. We all know that past forced removal practices, the intergenerational effects of separation from family and culture, and lower levels of economic participation and educational achievement have contributed to poor social, economic and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The three main precursors to children and young people of any background entering out of home care are mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse and family violence. There is substantial evidence to indicate that intergenerational trauma has resulted in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and families being over-represented in the prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse and family violence, and under-represented in seeking and receiving support for mental illness.
The independent review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people involved with the ACT child protection system will provide us with a deeper understanding of these issues. The review will also provide a better understanding of how we can best respond to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and their families.
At the core of the review is respect for the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Under the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement 2015-18, the ACT government is committed to building stronger families and addressing the growing number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care, and this review is a major initiative to deliver on that commitment.
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