Coming Together: The Journey Towards Effective Integrated Services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Families

Published June 2012

Introduction

Building from the recent SNAICC literature review on Integrated Service Delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Families, this paper applies an initial understanding of effective service integration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families to current experiences in integrated service design, development and delivery. It draws significantly on the knowledge and experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service delivery and integration leaders. In this way, the paper provides a uniquely Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective on what is necessary for integration that leads to high quality service, and contributes to wellbeing and positive development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities.

This paper is grounded in local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community contexts and the practical needs of communities to address the challenges and disadvantage that their peoples experience. Specifically, it focuses on the integration processes occurring in the development of the 38 new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Family Centres established under the National Partnership Agreement for Indigenous Early Childhood Development. These Centres were proposed within a framework of management, governance and service systems integration, and provide a solid context to view and envision aspects of effective service integration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. Whilst service integration aspects described in the paper and accompanying recommendations have broader implications for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service delivery, they are of particular relevance to the development and operation of the Centres.

Common issues, challenges, and practice ideas from the Centres are presented to inform understanding and open discussion about effective service integration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. This paper is a starting point and should be read as such, recognising that the Centres are newly developing, this is a complex and new issue, and that there is a limited body of evidence to inform effective service integration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. SNAICC invites participation of all stakeholders in ongoing efforts to define and deepen common understanding of what is required for effective service integration in these contexts. SNAICC looks forward to ongoing future collaboration with the Centres in this regard to progress the ideas presented in this paper. The paper also acknowledges that there can be no single model of service integration, as local design to respond to local need is a central tenet of integrated service development. However, common issues experienced and fundamental principles for service development and delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families are ultimately informative of broader structural supports required, as well as providing practical ideas for individual service designs.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Family Centres are targeted to support children’s development in the early years of life. A strong body of evidence indicates that later developmental outcomes and social functioning in adulthood are strongly linked to experiences in the early years, and that investments in preventative early childhood services provide significant long-term benefits.

Service integration seeks to place the child in the context of family and community, ensuring that early years services are connected and collaborate with the range of family and community support services that contribute to a safe, positive and supportive developmental environment for children. It requires a broad service design focus that goes beyond traditional models of early childhood education and care to new ways of collaborative working between the range of health and family support services that contribute to holistic child and family wellbeing.

The aspects of effective service integration that this paper describes are supportive of and informed by broader government frameworks that recognise the importance and value of partnerships for integrated service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. They provide guidance for implementation of the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children in its strategy to implement an integrated approach to service design and delivery across the lifecycle and spectrum of need, and reinforce its recognition that, in order to provide culturally appropriate responses, strategies developed under the National Framework need to be based on partnerships between Indigenous families and communities, and between Indigenous agencies, mainstream service providers and governments. The National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA) service delivery principles for services and programs for Indigenous Australians are also significant informants of integration approaches. Its seven core principles of priority, Indigenous engagement, sustainability, access, integration and accountability are considered throughout this paper.

Two significant lenses are applied to the analysis of service integration: the lens of genuine and respectful partnerships, and the lens of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and community control. Through these lenses SNAICC identifies building blocks for the development of partnerships for effective service integration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. These are detailed in relation to each aspect of service integration. The building blocks reflect varied models and ideas for achieving integration in different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service contexts, and are presented as ideas to inform ongoing discussion of what is needed to support and achieve effective integrated services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.