Significant national and jurisdictional child protection system developments – SNAICC in the News
The week of 19 May 2025 covers significant national and jurisdictional developments in child protection systems impacting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and community-controlled organisations.
A new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report reveals declining reunification rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, sparking urgent calls for increased investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations. Earlier this week, the New South Wales Government announced a historic $900 million reform package focused on family preservation, with substantial funding directed to Aboriginal community-controlled services—which can be described as an illustrative example of the type of reform needed. Meanwhile, the Queensland Government launched a 17-month Commission of Inquiry into its child protection system, prompting strong criticism over the ongoing and severe over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care and urgent calls for reform and greater investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and services.
Topic: AIHW Report shows urgent need for action on reunification rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
This week, a new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report has revealed that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who enter child protection systems are far less likely to be reunified with their families than non-Indigenous children.
The AIHW report shows that national reunification rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care have declined over the last five years. This systemic failure has prompted urgent calls from SNAICC and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and advocates for increased investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations and services.
Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, said supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations has never been more critical in the wake of this data release. The AIHW data shows that in 2022–23, only 7.3% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children on child protection orders were reunified with their families that year, compared to 10.9% of non-Indigenous children. Over the last five years, reunification rates for all children on protection orders have declined sharply—from 15.3% in 2017–18 to 9.4% in 2022–23—showing an overall worrying trend in family reunification outcomes.
Catherine said that it is devastating that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are increasingly less likely to be reunited with family and that it is a consequence of a lack of supports to help children return home. She said that evidence shows that once an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child enters the system, if their placement is supported by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisation, they are far more likely to maintain positive connections to their community and culture, and more likely to be reunited with kin. She says this demonstrates that governments at the federal, state and territory levels must not only continue but also accelerate their investment in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector and their commitments to reform through the Safe and Supported framework.
Catherine said that without meaningful government investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations and the Safe and Supported framework, progress on reunification will stall and the disparity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and non-Indigenous children will continue to grow. She said it is past time for government action to reform this failing system and do better by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
Topic: NSW announces historic $900 million child protection reform
Illustrating an example of the type of reform that is required, earlier this week the Minns NSW Labor Government announced a landmark $900 million investment over five years to reform the child protection system in New South Wales to ‘better support vulnerable families’, ‘keep children safe’ and ‘drive long-overdue reform of the child protection system.’
The NSW Government has detailed that, over five years, funding for the Family Preservation Program will deliver more effective support to help families in crisis and direct resources to where they are needed most. In what is a landmark moment, nearly 40% of this funding—about $350 million—will be allocated directly to Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, who the NSW Government have said ‘are best-placed to support Aboriginal children and families to stay safely together,’ something Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocates have said for years.
The Family Preservation program, developed in partnership with AbSec and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, aims to prevent children from entering care by providing practical support to over 4,000 at-risk families each year. It focuses on improving family stability, parenting skills and healthy child development. The investment is part of broader reforms that also include reducing the use of emergency accommodation for children, improving caseworker support and introducing five-year contracts to ensure service stability and accountability.
AbSec CEO John Leha has welcomed the NSW Government’s commitment to reforming Family Preservation, saying that this approach is more than a policy shift—it is an act of justice and it restores communities’ right to care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. He said that AbSec looks forward to walking alongside sector partners to bring the framework to life, saying that when Aboriginal communities lead, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people are safer, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are stronger, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander futures are brighter.
Catherine Liddle said the funding is a turning point and a long-overdue recognition that Aboriginal-led solutions work best to address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care. She said that this commitment reflects a genuine shift towards partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations, and acknowledges what is known by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ for decades—that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and services are best placed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families to stay safely together. She said that by backing community-led services, the NSW Government is changing the way they do business with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and that NSW has set a new national benchmark—and now it is time for every other state and territory to step up, or risk leaving their most vulnerable children behind.
Topic: Qld’s child protection inquiry prompts urgent call to address over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the system
Conversely, this week, the Queensland Government has announced a 17-month Commission of Inquiry into the Queensland child protection system, following findings from the 2024 Children in Care Census.
The Qld Government has said that the Commission of Inquiry will ‘expose failures of the system and the damage it has caused, with the recommendations to reshape and repair a system that was left broken by the former Labor Government’. The inquiry will examine failures across residential care, case management, legislation and financial accountability. The current system, costing over $1.12 billion annually, has been labelled ‘broken’ by the state, with reports of alarming rates of abuse and neglect.
The inquiry comes as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children continue to be drastically over-represented in out-of-home care—placed at 9.3 times the rate of non-Indigenous children. SNAICC – National Voice for our Children has called for the inquiry to directly address this over-representation, warning that failure to do so would be a serious oversight. Catherine Liddle said that the inquiry’s broad terms of reference had no mention of one of the most pressing issues across child protection nationally—the glaring and increasing over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the system. She said that it is known that when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children encounter the system in Queensland, they are more likely to be subjected to serious harm and that any inquiry into the child protection system must consider their safety, first and foremost.
According to the 2024 Family Matters Report, Queensland has seen a continued increase in the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care—an increase of 13% compared to three years ago. Catherine said that evidence shows when out-of-home care services are delivered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are not only safer, but they are also more likely to be placed with kin or be restored back with their family. She said that keeping children safe means reversing the current trend of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children entering out-of-home care and investing in culturally informed early intervention and family supports that address the issues that are leading more and more children into this broken system.
Following the announcement by the Qld Government, more than 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders issued a scathing collective statement during the Bandarran Marra’Gu Gathering Strength Summit in Magan-djin/Brisbane, accusing the Qld Government of systemic harm against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. They argued that current policies mirror historical injustices, warning that continued forced removals are threatening cultural survival. Summit participants condemned government inaction and called for compliance with international human rights obligations, and also condemned the state’s recent rollback of progressive reforms, including the repeal of the Path to Treaty legislation and the cancellation of a long-promised truth-telling inquiry. The introduction of harsh new ‘adult crime, adult time’ youth justice laws has been particularly criticised for further criminalising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
For full coverage, find our media releases and the relevant news stories linked below.
Article: New South Wales child protection reforms the national benchmark
Excerpt:
Read the full articleDescribing it as a “landmark move” that will direct funds to ACCOs to help keep families together, SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, says its the kind of action they have been long-calling for to help Indigenous families across the country.
Chief Executive Catherine Liddle said the decision is a “turning point,” saying they have been telling governments for decades that Indigenous-led solutions work.
“By working in partnership with state peak bodies and ACCOs this announcement represents a significant step towards working in true partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community,” Ms Liddle said.
“It acknowledges what we have known for decades – that our ACCOs are best placed to support Aboriginal children and families to stay safely together.”
Article: Queensland Government under fire over human rights violations
Excerpt:
Read the full articleThe Queensland Government, which this week extended its Adult Crime, Adult Time laws so that youth offenders will receive adult sentences for 33 nominated offences, is coming under increasing criticism for undermining human rights, and especially those of First Nations children. [Included are] links to statements published by the Bandarran Marra’Gu Gathering Strength Summit First Nations leaders, human rights experts, and the National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, together with a comment by SNAICC.
Article: Inquiry ‘must consider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’
Excerpt:
Read the full articleSNAICC National Voice for our Children has called for any inquiry into the Queensland Government’s child protection system to take into account the gross overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the system and the underlying issues leading to more children entering care.
According to the Family Matters report, Queensland has seen a continued increase in the rate of overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care (OOHC), reflecting an increase of 13 per cent compared to three years ago.
Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, said failing to consider the needs and pressing challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families when they come into contact with the state’s child protection system would be an oversight.
Article: NSW Commended for Investment in Closing the Gap
Excerpt:
Read the full articleIn a landmark move, the NSW Government will direct nearly $350 million to Aboriginal community-controlled organisations (ACCOs) to help keep families together and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children out of the child protection system.
Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC, said this is the kind of action that SNAICC has been calling for to address the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care.
“This is a turning point,” Ms. Liddle said. “For decades, we’ve been telling governments that Aboriginal-led solutions work. NSW has finally put serious dollars behind that truth.
Article: Inquiry into Queensland’s child protection system must confront harm to Indigenous children
Excerpt:
Read the full articleAny inquiry into Queensland’s child protection system must look at the gross over-representation of Indigenous children as well as issues leading to children entering care, experts say.
The call from SNAICC – National Voice for our Children comes after Queensland’s LNP government announced an inquiry into the state’s child protection system to uncover the “failures,” after a new report found alarming rates of abuse and neglect.
The government said on Sunday the 17-month inquiry will take steps “others have been afraid to take, because it is the right thing to do”.
Indigenous children and young people are placed in out-of-home care (OOHC) in Queensland at 9.3 times the rate of their non-Indigenous counterparts, and there have been multiple reports of sexual exploitation in residential care facilities.