Data showing First Nations children entering child protection are less likely to be reunified with their families is what families "have been saying for decades," according to the peak body for Indigenous children.
A report released this week by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows 14.5 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care (OOHC) in 2022-23 were reunified, down from 17.6 per cent five years earlier.
Furthermore, just 7.3 per cent of Indigenous children on child protection orders were reunified, compared to 10.9 per cent of non-Indigenous children.
In the wake of the data, SNAICC – National Voice for Our Children chief executive, Catherine Liddle, said supporting the Aboriginal community-controlled (ACCO) sector had never been more important.
The Arrernte/Luritja woman from Central Australia said the numbers were "devastating," arguing it reveals a lack of support to help the children in care return to their homes.
"Evidence shows that once an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child enters the system, if their placement is supported by an ACCO, they are far more likely to maintain positive connections to their community, identity and culture, as well as more likely to be reunited with kin," Ms Liddle said.
Just over a quarter of Indigenous children in OOHC were placed with Indigenous relatives or kin in their first placement, with 41.2 per cent of Indigenous children in OOHC living with Indigenous relatives or kin, or Indigenous carers—down from 48.4 per cent in 2017.
Data showed nearly 90 per cent of children reconnected with family or kin after leaving OOHC remained there for at least 12 months.
"This data demonstrates that governments at the federal, state and territory levels must not only continue but also accelerate their investment in the ACCO sector and their commitments to reform through the Safe and Supported framework for protecting children," Ms Liddle said.
She argued this success is down to the accountability of ACCOs to their local community, noting they deliver holistic and culturally safe services that are "highly trusted by local families".
As a result, this leads to stronger engagement in services, she said.
"ACCOs are also more successful in ensuring children's safety and maintaining their connections while in care by adhering to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP)."
The ATSICPP is designed to ensure protection for Indigenous children in care by placing them with other family or kin and close to Country.
Proposed changes to legislation in the Northern Territory making it easier to remove Aboriginal children from their communities via circumnavigating the ATSICPP have been labelled "unwarranted" and lacking in evidence by the NT's Child Commissioner.
Without meaningful government investment in ACCOs and the Safe and Supported framework, Ms Liddle says progress on reunification will continue to stall, and the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children will continue to grow.
Across the country, almost 24,000 Indigenous children were placed in care at least once in the last financial year—over 43 per cent of all children Australia-wide.
Nationally, Indigenous children are 10.4 times more likely to be placed in OOHC than non-Indigenous children.
"This is a system that is successful in removing our children and is fundamentally failing to support children and families to live together as they ought to," Ms Liddle said.
"It's past time for government action to reform this failing system and do better by our children and families."
