Page 3702 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
This is a sentiment I fully support, having said from the start that we will not stand still while this review is underway. While this important work continues, the ACT government is implementing early intervention and prevention strategies in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and organisations, including family group conferencing and functional family therapy. I will be meeting the steering committee in October to discuss the report, and I expect further recommendations throughout the review period, which I welcome.
The interim report flags future priority areas of focus for the steering committee which are considered and timely. There is, of course, a broader perspective. I recognise the need for an intense, integrated and coordinated effort across all ACT government directorates to work together to ensure that we improve service delivery for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
This interim report marks the beginning of fundamental and systemic change in the ACT in the way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will experience the child protection system in the future. I will not pretend that these changes will be easy or will all be smooth sailing, but our community can only be strengthened when we work in partnership with our First Peoples and act on their solutions.
I again thank the Our Booris, Our Way steering committee for its work to date and for the interim report. The work the steering committee and review team are undertaking is detailed and difficult but I believe it will lead to real improvements in the child protection system.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (3.34), by leave: This is very important work and I commend the steering committee for putting together the interim report and the recommendations to see that action starts as soon as possible. I also welcome the government’s commitment to implement these recommendations before the final report is handed down next year. The minister has already begun work on a number of them, especially in the cultural competency and training spaces, and continuing support for the positive pilot of family group conferencing.
I also acknowledge the government’s appointment of an all-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander steering committee, and I share the hope of the steering committee that this indicates the government’s willingness to listen to their call for “self-determination to find and manage our own solutions and support services”.
As is clearly articulated in this report, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families should not be punished for their circumstances but guided to find the right services and supports when challenges arise. In the context of much-publicised and disturbing statistics on the rate of removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT, it is worth reflecting for a moment in the Assembly on this: what if more than a quarter of all children in the ACT were in out of home care? The Canberra community would come to a complete standstill. The scale of disruption, distress and grief would be overwhelming to put it mildly. But that is the everyday reality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and their children.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video