MEDIA RELEASE: Researcher denies report claims Indigenous children are placed ‘willy-nilly’ when taken into care.

Dr Jeremy Sammut has rejected suggestions made in today’s media that his latest research claims Indigenous children are placed ‘willy-nilly’ to comply with Aboriginal Child Placement Principle (ACPP).

Dr Sammut’s report, The Kinship Conundrum: The Impact of Aboriginal Self-Determination on Indigenous Child Protection was criticised by NSW Deputy Opposition Leader Linda Burney in a story in The Australian.  

“I welcome Linda Burney’s interest in my report. But what my research in fact suggests is that, in some cases, important cultural considerations can outweigh child welfare considerations. This is the conundrum we face in dealing with the legacy of the Stolen Generation,” Dr Sammut says.

“My report does not ignore or misunderstand the importance of culture to Indigenous identity. It explicitly recognises the “loss, isolation, and confusion” experienced by Stolen Generation, and therefore argues that “ideally” Indigenous children should be placed close to home if safe to do so.

“Unfortunately, official inquiries have indicated that this isn’t always so. For example, the Northern Territory Bath inquiry noted the “lesser standard of care” Indigenous children can receive.

“My research also cites the warning issued by the Queensland Carmody inquiry, concerning the “different standard of protection being afforded Indigenous children than afforded non-Indigenous children”.

Dr Sammut says submissions to these and other inquiries reflect conflicting views about ACPP. “Some say the ACPP is not emphasised enough, others that the ACPP is over-emphasised, to children’s detriment,” he says.

“Hence, the peak Victorian Indigenous Out of Home Care body told the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry (Cummins inquiry) that “it was never the intent of the ACPP to place children with members of their family or community who presented a danger to them”.

“The call by some Indigenous groups for greater compliance with ACPP risks ignoring a key finding of the Cummins inquiry: that this was unviable and unsafe due to ‘social disadvantage’ in some Indigenous communities.

“These findings are food for thought for all stakeholders. However, the non-discriminatory policies proposed in my research report will ultimately require an Indigenous champion to guide political leaders.

Dr Sammut also rejects any suggestion that he doesn’t believe the tragic impact of the ‘Stolen Generation’.

“There was a Stolen Generation because child protection was done badly — appallingly badly — in the past,” Dr Sammut says.  “Adoptions were closed, with no contact with birth families; children were treated as blank slates with no heritage; and attitudes to Aboriginal culture were dismissive and demeaning.”

“This did a lot of damage to many Indigenous people and their cultural identity. We have learnt a lot since those times. Adoptions are now open, and parents who adopt children from overseas recognise the need to maintain the cultural identity of the child.

“This is the kind of model I am proposing for Indigenous children, so we can better reconcile culture and identity with child welfare. Let’s allow adoptive and permanent care families to care for kids, and let Indigenous organisation take care of their culture and identity through cultural support and education programs.”

Dr Jeremy Sammut is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies.