Queensland Baseline Analysis of Best Practice Implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle

Published April 2018

Introduction

Queensland Baseline Analysis of Best Practice Implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle presents a baseline analysis of the progress of Queensland in implementing the full intent of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (the Child Placement Principle) with reference to the best practice approach set out in Understanding and Applying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle.

The baseline analysis considers the alignment of the five elements of the Child Placement Principle – prevention, partnership, placement, participation, and connection – with five interrelated system elements – legislation, policy, programs, processes, and practice. However, as the analysis reveals, there is significant interconnectedness and intersectionality of both the Child Placement Principle and system elements. Further, piecemeal compliance with a single or even several elements does not, and cannot, lead to the full realisation of the Child Placement Principle. Instead it is clear that holistic processes of reform are required to ensure full implementation and compliance with the Child Placement Principle’s intent to keep Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children safely connected to their families, communities, cultures, and country.

It is important to note that the baseline analysis has a particular focus on child safety, protection, and family support service systems and the work of government departments with primary responsibility for those systems, and so has some limitations to its scope. For example, the prevention element of the Child Placement Principle covers a broad scope of systems and multiple departmental responsibilities for universal service provision in areas such as health, education, and disability; however, these broader support systems are largely outside the scope of this review. Another important caveat is that the analysis is based on available documentation gathered through a desktop review and requests to state and territories for relevant documentation.

The development of this resource – and equivalent analyses for each state and territory jurisdiction – has been guided by the work of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Working Group established under the Third Three-Year Action Plan 2015-2018 for the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020. The Working Group is tasked with ensuring implementation of the Child Placement Principle throughout the Third Action Plan and as part of this work seeks, through the current analyses, to establish the current status of implementation in each state and territory in order to track and measure progress towards enhanced implementation.