Queensland's child protection reforms have failed to reduce the over-representation of Indigenous young people in out-of-home care, the state's Commissioner for First Nations children says.

A new report by Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Commissioner Natalie Lewis argues the Aboriginal child placement principle — a recent target of criticism from some politicians — is not the problem.

Instead, she says, the issue lies in the failure to properly implement it.

Indigenous children account for almost half of all children in out-of-home care, despite making up only 9.5 per cent of Queenslanders aged 0-17. They are entering care at higher rates, remaining in care longer, and increasingly being placed in residential care.

The report, Principle focus: A continued commitment to systemic accountability for the safety and wellbeing of Queensland's First Nations children, argues while Queensland has "committed to a generational reform agenda to eliminate the overrepresentation" of First Nations children in care, the overrepresentation "remains entrenched and worsening".

Queensland's spending on residential care has risen to more than $1 billion annually, it states, while comparatively less funding has been directed toward prevention, early intervention, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled services.

More children are staying in care for five years or longer, while fewer are exiting within two years. Once a child remains in care beyond two years, they are increasingly likely to stay long term.

The report argues this is driving growth in overall care numbers, as the system is shaped not only by how many children enter care but how long they remain there.

Without confronting the over-representation of Indigenous children in out-of-home care, Commissioner Lewis says Queensland cannot reform the child protection system.

"Self-determination, cultural connection, and family participation are protective factors for children, not competing interests," she says.

The report argues the failure to consistently implement the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) — designed to ensure children removed by the government maintain connections to family, community and culture — is contributing to the number of children in care, rather than a lack of reform commitments.

Commissioner Lewis said the evidence does not show the ATSICPP has failed. Rather, she said, it shows it has "not been fully implemented to the standard of Active Efforts in practice".

"If government is truly motivated to get children out of unsuitable and obscenely costly residential care," she said. "A key action they could take immediately is to enable commencement of the Blue Card kinship carer amendments, enabling children to be cared for safely, by family who love them rather than continuing to invest in failure."

Despite commitments under the Closing the Gap agreement, inconsistencies in the application of the ATSICPP across legislation and policy, and in its implementation by the department and frontline services, are helping maintain over-representation.

"There is also a growing narrative suggesting that the ATSICPP conflicts with the paramount principle. This is a false dichotomy," the report says.

"A fully implemented ATSICPP increases self-determination and strengthens safety by embedding prevention, partnership, participation, placement and connection to the standard of active efforts across all significant decision points."

It calls for greater investment in prevention, early intervention, family preservation and reunification programs, alongside stronger accountability, transparency and meaningful shared decision-making