The National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, research and ACCO representatives and others leaders will direct discussion at the NSW Aboriginal Child & Family Conference next month.

Community members, policymakers, workers on-the-ground and the broader sector will attend the conference on Birpai Country in Port Macquarie over three days.

The event will be hosted by AbSec, NSW's peak for Aboriginal children and families.

Insights and perspectives will come from other parts of the country.

VACCA (Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency) chief executive and national peak SNAICC chair, Aunty Muriel Bamblett, as well as QATSICPP (Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak) chief executive, Phillip Brooks, Wendy Moore from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and Sue-Anne Hunter are among keynote speakers and presenters.

Commissioner Hunter was appointed as the first full-time national advocate for First Nations children and young people last year.

Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research project lead Associate Professor BJ Newton and more researchers will also speak.

Overall there are more than 50 headline speakers and 70 sessions organised for the conference.

AbSec chief executive John Leha said the conference will be a "landmark event for our sector".

"A National Commissioner, peak body CEOs from three states, leading Aboriginal researchers, Aboriginal young people and powerful community voices — all united by one purpose: ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children grow up safe, strong in culture, and connected to family and Country," Mr Leha said.

The conference comes at a time when long-standing protections for Indigenous children have been challenged in some states and territories.

Experts have warned new legislation in the NT will severely weaken the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) — designed to ensure children removed from their families maintain connections to family, community and culture.

In Queensland, the government will in the coming weeks release a response into a recent review into child care, which in part, argued child protection in the state has shown a "tendency to give tacit priority to achieving the objectives of the ATSICPP in priority to an evaluation of the child's best interests".

Commissioner Hunter — whose role was officially legislated at the start of the month — has defended the principle as a vital guard against another stolen generation.

"We want to be incredibly clear... The ATSICPP does not interfere with the safety of a child; it enhances the protections," she said. "When it comes to the safety of our children, the ATSICPP is always considered alongside the paramount principle — it's not one or the other," she said.

The previous AbSec conference was held in Penrith on Dharug Country in 2024.