MEDIA RELEASE: Kinship placements will create ‘Lost Generation’ of Indigenous children

Indigenous-specific child protection policies will create a ‘lost generation’ trapped in disadvantage, according to a new report by The Centre for Independent Studies.

In ‘The Kinship Conundrum: The Impact of Aboriginal Self-Determination on Indigenous Child Protection’, Dr Jeremy Sammut examines the escalating crisis in Indigenous child welfare and outlines how well-meaning policies designed to prevent a New Stolen Generation risk maintaining the gaps in social outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

“The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle (ACPP) means that when Indigenous children have to be removed from parents, all efforts are made to place those children into kinship care with relatives or local community members to maintain contact with traditional culture, and prevent a repeat of the loss of cultural identity experienced by the Stolen Generation.”

“Unfortunately, due to the social problems in some Indigenous communities, this means some Indigenous children are placed into unsafe and unsuitable situations and receive a lower standard of care than non-Indigenous children in care.”

“The number of Indigenous children in state care nationally has risen from 4,146 in 2000-01 to almost 14,000 in 2012-13. This represents a tripling from 2% to 6% in the proportion of the total Indigenous child population taken into care.

“With more than 50% of Indigenous children in care placed in kinship situations, children can be taken out of the frying pan of family dysfunction only to be placed back into the fire of broader community dysfunction.

“It is crucial to foster children’s Indigenous identity. But equally important is securing children’s well-being and ensuring they have the same opportunities as other Australians. We need to find better ways of reconciling culture and identity with child welfare.”

“The ACPP is a product of the policies of Aboriginal self-determination established in the 1970s, and is outdated compared to new policies designed to mainstream Indigenous services in areas like health and education. The ACPP is also outdated compared to modern definitions and understandings of Indigenous identity.

“We should not be excluding Indigenous children from the NSW adoption reforms and the Victorian permanent care laws. Persisting with the ACPP will perpetuate intergenerational Indigenous disadvantage."

“Discrimination in Indigenous child protection must cease, and Indigenous children who are adopted or in permanent care should receive cultural support and education programs run by Indigenous organisations to develop their cultural awareness and promote their Indigenous identity.”

Dr Jeremy Sammut is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies and author of numerous research reports on the Australian child protection system.

Access the report: https://www.cis.org.au/images/stories/policy-monographs/pm144.pdf

Read the exec summary Snapshot: https://www.cis.org.au/images/stories/policy-monographs/pm144-snapshot.pdf

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