What is Safe & Supported?
Children and young people in Australia have the right to grow up safe, connected and supported in their family, community and culture and to grow up in an environment that enables them to reach their full potential.
Safe and Supported: the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021 – 2031 sets out how we can work together to ensure that children and young people in Australia reach their full potential by growing up safe and supported, free from harm and neglect. It is Australia’s framework to reduce child abuse and neglect and its intergenerational impacts, building on the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009–2020, which laid the critical foundation for national collaboration on protecting Australia’s children.
Safe and Supported is the key strategy supporting national efforts to make progress under Target 12 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which aims to reduce the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care by 45% over 10-years (by 2031). It will be delivered through two 5-year Action Plans, setting out a 10-year strategy to improve the lives of children, young people and families experiencing disadvantage or who are vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have their own Action Plan (Safe and Supported: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Action Plan 2023-2026) that covers all aspects of Safe and Supported.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plans are driven in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and communities under a Partnership Agreement with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group. The Partnership Agreement formalises shared decision-making arrangements and has been developed and endorsed by Commonwealth, state and territory governments, and the Safe and Supported Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group members. It is a commitment to partnership and shared decision-making in response to Closing the Gap Priority Reform 1.
Safe and Supported will drive change through joint efforts across governments and non-government sectors responsible for the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.
Our role
SNAICC is a key partner in the development of Safe and Supported and its subsequent Action Plans.
Initially, Commonwealth, state and territory Governments partnered with SNAICC, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group and the National Coalition on Child Safety and Wellbeing for the development of a strategy that aims to make significant and sustained progress in reducing the rate of child abuse and neglect and its intergenerational impacts across Australia.
In 2021, our national consultations created a safe space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to share their thoughts on the big issues for their children. The consultations helped shape and guided the co-design of Safe and Supported, which amounted to a total of 12 national consultations across Australia and over 450 responses online via an online survey.
SNAICC played a crucial role in the development of the Partnership Agreement, which is a partnership between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and Community Services Ministers from around the country that formalises shared decision-making arrangements for Safe and Supported.
Vision
Children and young people in Australia reach their full potential by growing up safe and supported, free from harm and neglect.
Goal
To make significant and sustained progress in reducing the rates of child abuse and neglect, and its intergenerational impacts.
Priority groups & key areas
Safe and Supported is for all Australian children, young people and families, with a targeted focus on groups that are experiencing disadvantage or are vulnerable to abuse and neglect.
The National Framework aims to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families by focusing its actions on four priority groups across a number of sectors and life stages.
This includes:
- children and families with multiple and complex needs
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people experiencing disadvantage or who are vulnerable
- children and young people and/or parents/carers with disability experiencing disadvantage or who are vulnerable
- children and young people who have experienced abuse and/or neglect, including children in out-of-home and young people leaving out-of-home care and transitioning to adulthood.
The National Framework will improve outcomes for these groups by focusing actions on four key focus areas:
Focus area one
Focus area two
Focus area three
Focus area four
Implementation & action plans
Safe and Supported will be delivered through Action Plans that outline the actions and outcomes needed for lasting progress in reducing child abuse and neglect.
On 31 January 2023, two first-stage action plans were released setting out the key activities to be achieved over the next four years to deliver the Safe and Supported strategy. The voices of children and young people have played a central role in developing both action plans.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Action Plan 2023 – 2026 was developed in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group. This action plan sets out a transformative agenda to protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, reduce their over-representation in the child protection system and enable them to thrive. The action plan also takes important steps to place Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ self-determination at the centre of key community services systems. The First National Action Plan 2023 – 2026 focuses on all children and families who are vulnerable, with an emphasis on actions and strategies to support the four priority groups.
The National Framework will work with other national initiatives to support change for Australian children, young people and families, including:
- National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030
- National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Early Childhood Strategy
- National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
There is a strong focus on monitoring implementation and measuring the progress of the National Framework. These have initially come in the form of Outcomes Frameworks that list the desired outcomes for all priority groups under Safe and Supported outcomes and a Theory of Change that accompanies the Outcomes Framework and explains how change will occur to achieve the outcomes.
A Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy report is currently under development.
Resources
Safe and Supported: the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021 – 2031
Safe and Supported: the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021–2031 is Australia’s framework to reduce child abuse and neglect and its intergenerational impacts.
View Safe & Supported
Safe and Supported: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Action Plan 2023 – 2026
Action Plan setting out transformative action agenda to protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people from harm and enable them to thrive.
View First Action Plan
Fact Sheet – Safe and Supported: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Action Plan 2023 – 2026
Accompanying Fact Sheet to the First Action Plan 2023-2026.
View Fact Sheet
National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021-31
November 2021
National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2021-31 provides details on the consultation process and feedback from participants that were conducted to guide the co-design of the successor framework to the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children.
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