Development of options for a South Australian Aboriginal Children and Families Peak Body: Final Report
Background to the Development of options for a South Australian Aboriginal Children and Families Peak Body
The South Australian Government’s Aboriginal Affairs Action Plan 2021–2022 commits the Government to fund and deliver a peak body for Aboriginal children and families. South Australian community stakeholders, and Aboriginal organisations on the national scale, had called for a peak body for children and families in South Australia for many years. This commitment from the Government provides a significant opportunity to enliven the community’s ambition to increase Aboriginal leadership for children and families. It also aligns with a key tenet of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (the National Agreement).
Finalised in July 2020, the National Agreement marks the first time that the Closing the Gap policy platform has been developed in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and organisations. It also stipulates that all future decisions and actions taken under the Closing the Gap framework must also be arrived at through such partnerships. The National Agreement sets out four Priority Reforms — systemic changes to the way governments and non-Indigenous organisations operate, which constitute essential preconditions to the achievement of individual targets under Socioeconomic Outcome Areas.
Priority Reform Two commits all signatories to building strong, formal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sectors to deliver services to support Closing the Gap, and stipulates that a strong community-controlled sector is one in which organisations delivering common services are supported by a Peak Body, governed by a majority Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board, which has strong governance and policy development and influencing capacity. This project therefore represents one of the most significant actions yet undertaken by a government pursuant to Priority Reform Two.
SNAICC – National Voice for our Children (SNAICC), the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s safety, development and wellbeing, was selected to partner with the Department for Child Protection to facilitate the design of the proposed South Australian peak body by consulting extensively with the Aboriginal communities of South Australia. SNAICC’s agreement with the Department for Child Protection provided that, in the process of developing options for a South Australian peak body representing the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, SNAICC should: ‘employ various methods (i.e. workshops, teleconferences, interviews) to consult with stakeholders, including the South Australian Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations Network, the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and the broader South Australian Aboriginal community, to develop options for a peak body in South Australia.’
SNAICC is firmly of the view that peak bodies must be community-designed, community-controlled and independent of government to align with their core purpose; as such, the central aim of this project is for the design of the proposed peak body to be driven by the Aboriginal community and community-controlled sectors of South Australia.
Accordingly, Development of options for a South Australian Aboriginal Children and Families Peak Body: Final Report reflects the views of Aboriginal people, families, communities and organisations who participated in the State-wide consultation process by sharing their experiences, concerns, and aspirations for the future wellbeing of their children and family members.