SNAICC

National Voice for our Children

SNAICC -
National Voice
for our Children
SUPPORT US
  • Home
  • About
  • Policy and Research
  • Sector Development
    • Monitoring and evaluation
  • News and Events
    • Media Centre
  • Resources
    • COVID-19 resources
  • Membership
  • Contact

Kevin Rudd calls for new Closing the Gap target to reduce Indigenous incarceration rates

February 27, 2015

27 February 2015 | General Interest

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has highlighted the alarmingly high rates of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Indigenous child removals in a speech to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations.

Speaking at Parliament House in Sydney, Mr Rudd pointed to figures that show Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians make up only 2.3 per cent of the adult population, but made up 27.4 per cent of the adult prison population.

“We are seeing the emergence of this new crisis in Indigenous Australia beyond anything seen before,” Mr Rudd said.

“It is the subject of escalating anxiety in Indigenous communities across the country. For this reason, I argue we now need a further Closing the Gap target on reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.

“The current trend will continue to be destructive for Indigenous families and communities nationwide.”

Mr Rudd said the data on the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children was “dramatic”.

He observed that there had been a 400 per cent increase in the rate of Indigenous children in out-of-home care since the 1997 release of the Bringing Them Home report.

Worryingly, there has been a 65 per cent spike in child removals since the National Apology, increasing from 5,000 Indigenous children in out-of-home care in 2008 to almost 15,000 children at 30 June 2014.

“While child neglect and the safety of all Australian children, including Indigenous children, is paramount, Indigenous leaders argue that alternative caring arrangements for such children are not being worked out with extended families, as they could and should be,” Mr Rudd said.

“State and Territory jurisdictions have primary responsibility in this area, but funding for community- based services appears to be dwindling.

“Professionals from within the sector point to existing barriers to recruiting Indigenous people into the kinship care system – the current process of recruitment itself, remuneration that values Indigenous kinship carers at much less than foster carers, and the professional and material supports that currently make caring for kids too difficult – as reasons why alternative caring systems are not working as they were designed to.

“That is why an increasing number of Indigenous leaders are beginning to speak with growing urgency of a new, emerging, ‘stolen generation.’

“Because of the direct relationship between this and the exploding incarceration rates for Indigenous Australians, the separation of children from wider family and kinship groups at an unprecedented rate must also now be explicitly addressed within the Closing the Gap framework.

“The safety of the child must always come first. The question is: where are they better cared for, and how is that best arranged.”

Filed Under: E-Bulletin, News Tagged With: ebulletin104

News and Events

  • News and Events
  • Media Releases
  • Media Centre
  • National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day
  • SNAICC National Conference
    • 2021 SNAICC National Conference – Gold Coast
    • 2019 SNAICC National Conference – Adelaide
    • 2017 SNAICC National Conference – Canberra

About

  • Vision and Purpose
  • Membership
  • Employment
  • Student Placements
  • Volunteers

Policy & Research

  • Child Safety and Wellbeing
  • Early Childhood
  • Child Rights

Coalition of Peaks

coalition of peaks SNAICC is a member of the Coalition of Peaks

News

  • News
  • Media Releases

Sector Practice and Development

  • Training programs
  • Training Partners
Phone: (03) 9419 1921 Email: info@snaicc.org.au Donate Now
Copyright © 2021 Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care · WordPress website by Clickify based off original site by Fraynework · Terms of Use · Sitemap

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material.

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Policy and Research
  • Sector Development
    ▼
    • Monitoring and evaluation
  • News and Events
    ▼
    • Media Centre
  • Resources
    ▼
    • COVID-19 resources
  • Membership
  • Contact