A national conference of over 1200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait child development workers in Adelaide is calling for a strategy to eliminate the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in out-of-home care. The 8th SNAICC National Conference begins this morning at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
Our children are 11 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children,” says Adjunct Professor Muriel Bamblett, SNAICC Chair.
This over-representation will continue unless we focus on the cause and not just the problem. The last Family Matters Report found that the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care will more than triple by 2037 if no new action is taken.
SNAICC calls for a national comprehensive strategy to eliminate the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care. A strategy that provides an opportunity to address the underlying causes of child protection intervention.
It should include responses to poverty, homelessness, family violence, drug and alcohol misuse, employment and training and lack of access to universal and targeted support services for families experiencing vulnerability,”
– Muriel Bamblett, SNAICC Chair
See conference highlights:
www.snaicc.org.au/conference/program, www.snaicc.org.au/conference
