The Number of Indigenous Children in Child Protection Is Projected to Triple

Nearly 20 years after the landmark Bring Them Home report was released, a new report delivered on Wednesday says the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children being removed from their families is still alarmingly high. In fact, it is set to triple in the next two decades if things don't change.

Launched by Family Matters, a coalition of Indigenous organisations and academics, the report says that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are almost 10 times more likely than non-Indigenous children to be removed from their family homes. Currently, around 15,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are living separated from their families.

"We are deeply shocked by the projection of current trends showing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care will almost triple by 2035. This is a stark warning that we need a new approach," wrote Gerry Moore, Co-Chair of Family Matters, in a media statement.

According to the report, poverty and family violence are overwhelmingly to blame for the removal of children from their families. The report also highlights the role played by discrimination, with Indigenous families seeing restricted access to vital family support services.

Family Matters calls upon the government to implement a comprehensive national strategy to be adopted by state and federal governments. "The Family Matters campaign demands a COAG strategy to urgently address this national crisis," Moore said.

The report argues that current strategies to target the problem are ineffective, and that just 17 percent of overall child protection funding is spent on support services for families. Most of the money, around $3.5 billion, was spent addressing child protection problems instead of preventing them occurring in the first place.

Alongside a COAG strategy aiming to tackle the causes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child removal, the report also recommends that a minimum of 30 percent of all investment in child protection be channelled into prevention and early intervention. As well as a federal program, it says that states should aim to address the specific issues experienced in their local Indigenous communities.

As the report details, some states fare worse than others when it comes to child removal statistics. Western Australia has the highest rates, and has been slow to implement recommended solutions to child protection. Meanwhile, Victoria has invested significantly in measures that aim to improve the safety and wellbeing of Indigenous children.

Co-Chair of Family Matters Natalie Lewis said that Australians should work together to ensure the future of Indigenous children. "The consequences of not doing this are profound. Devastating families; deepening intergenerational trauma; severing children's cultural bonds; triggering poor life outcomes; and eroding culture and community," she said.

"Aboriginal children have grown up safe and well cared for in family and culture for thousands of years—we have the answers and the evidence to raise our children safe and in culture."

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