Victoria's Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People, Meena Singh, has announced her resignation after nearly four years in the role.

Ms Singh, a Yorta Yorta and Indian woman, quietly announced the decision via a statement on the Commission for Children and Young People's website on Thursday.

Her departure comes as her office continues to criticise the Victorian Government's increasingly punitive approach to youth crime, including last week's proposal to introduce harsh prison sentences for children as young as 14.

Ms Singh said taking on the acting Commissioner for Children and Young People position, in addition to her role as Commissioner for Aboriginal children, had taken a toll during a "period of significant scrutiny on child-safe systems and subsequent regulatory change".

She said she had been "privileged to witness the amazing capacity of Aboriginal children and young people and hear the things that are important to them," but noted the resilience they show is required because of "systems borne out of racism and violence".

Many of these systems, she said, have been exposed as "harmful to Aboriginal children, young people and families" through the work of the Yoorrook Justice Commission.

"As we see the growing over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) and youth justice, there is still so much to do to ensure Aboriginal community and organisations are empowered to deliver self-determined responses to provide safety and wellbeing of First Nations children and young people," Ms Singh said.

"Their work contributes to the undoing of the harmful legacy of colonisation on our families and community. The signing of Treaty is but one significant step in that long journey towards justice."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by National Indigenous Times (@natindigtimes)

Victoria continues to remove more Aboriginal children into OOHC than any other jurisdiction.

In 2023-24, Indigenous children entered OOHC at a rate of 113.9 per 1,000—more than 18 times the rate of non-Indigenous children. Yoorrook has heard extensive testimony linking child removals to domestic violence, poverty, racism, and unborn notifications, with one in five Aboriginal children reportedly removed before they are three months old.

Ms Singh said the most rewarding part of her work was "simply sitting with children and young people across the state and hearing their stories and ideas," adding she has learnt "infinitely more than I can possibly impart in these interactions".

Offering advice as she steps away, she said: "Every child and young person in this state is deserving of safety, love, care and opportunity. They're also deserving of support and guidance, especially when they make mistakes."

Her resignation follows widespread condemnation of the state's new youth justice laws, which allow life sentences for children as young as 14. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 19 requires adults to protect children from harm, while Article 40 mandates detention be used only as a last resort.

Responding to the laws last week, Ms Singh said: "First Nations families and community know that when laws like this come into effect, they will disproportionately impact our children and young people, as well as children and young people who have experienced trauma, family violence and have unmet mental health and wellbeing needs."

"These new laws will not create a safer Victoria," she said.

It came after Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) CEO, Nerita Waight, condemned the proposed laws, noting the sentencing was equivalent to that of murder, whilst 2024 NAIDOC person of the year, Muriel Bamblett, said they will do "nothing to divert children from crime, but instead ensure they are trapped in the justice system for life".

In her statement on Thursday, Ms Singh stressed that government actions "can mean the difference between a life recovered, or a child death inquiry, between a life of engagement and flourishing, or a prison cell".

"The rights, voices and experiences of children and young people must be kept at the centre of these discussions and decisions, not sidelined," she said.

"Change is possible, but we must be courageous in our challenging of systems and institutions, and sometimes ourselves as a community, if we are going to achieve the safety and well-being of all children and young people in Victoria."

There is now no permanent Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People, nor a permanent Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People in Victoria.

After Liana Buchanan stepped down from the Principal Commissioner's role in March, Ms Singh assumed both positions. Despite continued criticism and calls to appoint a permanent successor, the government announced that Department of Families, Fairness and Housing deputy secretary Argiri Alisandratos would act in the position from November until a long-term replacement is selected.

The appointment immediately raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, given the commission's requirement for independence and its role in investigating the department's own handling of cases involving children in state care.

"It's a staggering conflict of interest," Greens spokesperson for early childhood, Anasina Gray-Barberio, said last month.

"This should be an independent role, and Victorians will have every right to raise eyebrows coming from a Labor government that's gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid accountability and transparency over their failures on childcare, denying documents requested by the parliament that could be provided in New South Wales but not Victoria."