Aboriginal children in NT Child Protection System least likely to be placed with Aboriginal family – SNAICC in the News
New data from the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare reveals that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the NT Child Protection System are the least likely to be placed with Aboriginal family of anywhere in Australia.
New Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW) data, released this week, revealed more than 70% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children placed in out-of-home care (OOHC) in the Northern Territory in 2022-23 were not placed with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family or person, a non-Indigenous family member, or kin—the lowest rate in all jurisdictions. Approximately 90% of children in OOHC in the Northern Territory are Aboriginal; with less than 25% being placed with family members. This means that the majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have not been placed in accordance with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (Child Placement Principle), which protects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care.
All jurisdictions have a legislated commitment to ensure that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in OOHC have the right to maintain connection to culture. However, in the Northern Territory, a proposed amendment last month—which will make it easier to remove Aboriginal children from their communities—has sparked criticism with experts arguing that it will impact the basic rights of Aboriginal children. The proposed change would give courts and the Department of Children and Families the power to override national guidelines that are part of the Child Placement Principle with a ‘special and exceptional circumstance’ provision. It would give courts the ‘discretion to not uphold the principle in special/exceptional circumstances’ if they believe doing so would jeopardise the child’s safety.
Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, said that when the Child Placement Principle is fully implemented children have the best chance at growing up safe and strong in community and culture. She said that community knows that when children can maintain connections to community and culture, their outcomes improve, breaking the cycle of child protection systems and juvenile justice systems. Catherine said that by watering down the Child Placement Principle, the NT Government is ignoring an evidence-based framework designed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities—one that is supported by governments across Australia. She said that, despite the shockingly low commitment from the NT government to uphold the Child Placement Principle as it is, the government is threatening to give courts and child protection authorities more power to disregard the Child Placement Principle when making decisions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s safety and wellbeing. Catherine concluded by saying that the worst thing governments can do is ignore the evidence and dismantle the policies that are contributing to Closing the Gap.
NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby told reporters that the NT Government would no longer accept the ‘status quo’ in terms of community safety and that they would do things differently, with no apologies. Shahleena Musk, the NT Child Commissioner, said that it is the birthright of Aboriginal children to be connected to their family, country, community, language and culture, as enshrined in the Child Placement Principle, and that any future reforms should only strengthen the elements and improve implementation in practice.
The Child Placement Principle was developed in the early 1980s and incorporated into adoption and child protection legislation in 1983. Under the Child Placement Principle, all Australian states and territories have a legislated commitment to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care maintain a connection to culture and that when children are removed from their families, courts and child protection services prioritise placing them with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relatives and kin.
For complete coverage, find our Media Release and news stories linked below.
Read our Media ReleaseArticle: NT Indigenous children in care least likely to be placed with family
Excerpt:
Read the full articleSNAICC – National Voice for our Children chief executive, Catherine Liddle, said children had the best chance of growing up stronger and connected to culture when the Principle was applied.
“We know when children are able to maintain connections they have better outcomes, interrupting the trajectory between child protection and juvenile justice systems,” Ms Liddle said.
Article: NT govt ‘ignoring’ childcare principles
Excerpt:
Read the full article“Despite the shockingly low commitment from the NT government to uphold the Principle as it is, the government is threatening to give the courts and child protection authorities greater powers to ignore the principle when making decisions about the safety and wellbeing of our children,” Ms Liddle said.
“By watering down the Principle, the NT Government is disregarding an evidence-based framework designed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and endorsed by governments across Australia.
“The worst thing governments can do is ignore the evidence and dismantle the policies that are contributing to Closing the Gap.”