Our Booris, Our Way Final Report, December 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of COUNTRY
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FINAL REPORT DECEMBER 2019 This report was developed by the Our Booris, Our Way Steering Committee, formed in response to the high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT child protection system. The review was conducted between November 2017 – December 2019 and members of the committee included Barb Causon, Natalie Brown, Robyn Martin, Alana Harris, Peter Williams, Sharon Williams, Caroline Hughes, Jo Chivers, Ray Simpson and Leo Nickels (2018). Case file reviews undertaken by the Our Booris, Our Way Review team (Jill Kelly, Brooke Rigney, Toni Woods, Cheryl Henshall and Andrew Woolgar), secretariat services (Juleigh Langenberg with support from an administrative officer) all overseen by the Senior Clinical Lead, Narelle Rivers. The Steering Committee and Review team want to acknowledge and thank everyone who shared their deeply personal stories and experiences. The generosity of time and the willingness to offer solutions and ideas to improve responses and experiences of other children, young people and families in the future was overwhelming. The Steering Committee thanks all individuals and organisations that contributed to this important review. Author: Our Booris, Our Way Steering Committee Cover Art: Lynnice Church Design: Mazart Design Studio Attribution: If you wish to reference or quote this report, please use the full name as follows: Our Booris, Our Way Final Report, December 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY The Our Booris, Our Way Steering Committee acknowledges that Canberra has been built on the lands of the traditional custodians, the Ngunnawal people. We would also like to acknowledge the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community. We pay our deepest respects to Elders past and present. A child learning about their culture is important so they know who they are and some of their culture might help them to make better decisions. Parent OUR BOORIS, OUR WAY 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This review and report would not have been possible without the support of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community. We have made every effort to represent their experiences of the child protection system in the ACT, as well as their views on how this system should change to better support our families and children. We thank the children, families, carers and community members who have taken the time to share their experience of child protection. We know this has not been easy. We thank you for trusting us to honour and respect yours and your family’s stories. Our greatest wish is that this report does those stories justice. Our local Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, Winnunga Nimmityjah and Gugan Gulwan along with Aboriginal peak bodies and advocacy groups such as the United Ngunnawal Elders Council, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body and the Nannies group have all been strong advocates in child protection over many years. We thank them for once again contributing their expertise and experiences along with support for the work of the Steering Committee. We appreciate that these and others have been advocating for change in the Child Protection system for a very long time and have supported many families impacted by this system. We acknowledge Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith who not only called for this review but has keenly supported the review and its framework of self-determination. We thank the Minister for the opportunity to undertake this review of government and for her willingness to place these matters where they should be placed in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander hands. We would also like to acknowledge the Directors-General and Deputy Directors- General of the ACT Community Services Directorate over the duration of this review and express our appreciation for the support of the executive of the Child and Youth Protection Services. A major part of our review was the thorough research undertaken by our independent Review team who went through every single file related to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child connected to the child protection system as at 31 December 2017. This team have worked hard to understand the experience of each and every child included in this review. Their commitment, resilience and dedication to identifying issues and themes for the Steering Committee has been outstanding. Thank you to all the other people and organisations that have come forward during this review to present their perspective, and possible solutions to how we may reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care, improve their experience when in care and improve pathways to restoration and exiting care. The Steering Committee has been pleased to see the level of interest and support offered by the broader ACT community who share our concerns about the over -representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system and want to work with us to see real change for our families. OUR BOORIS, OUR WAY 3 The most support I had from CYPS was when I was pregnant with my second daughter. I had my own personal cheer squad and support network that rallied around me daily to ensure she stayed with me. Why couldn’t this have been done before my daughter came into care? Mother OUR BOORIS, OUR WAY 4 FOREWORD We are 22 years on from the release of the Bringing Them Home report (1997) and the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their homes and communities continues. If the full recommendations of this landmark report were implemented, our community would not be in the situation we are in today. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT in 2017-2018 were 16.3 times more likely to be in Out of Home Care (OoHC) than non-Indigenous children. Yet, the ACT is a small jurisdiction and should be leading the country in child protection matters. Our children should be safe with their parents, strong in culture and proud of their identity. In exercising our self-determination, we also need to be responsible as parents to care for our children and to seek support if we know our children are at risk. We acknowledge that for this to happen we need to have trusted and culturally appropriate early support services that are easy to access. We have sought to understand the current situation in the ACT and we have reached out to many people across the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, peak organisations, children, families, carers, advocacy groups, and mainstream organisations to understand their experience. This report demands change. It is a compelling and detailed analysis of the circumstances of our children and what needs to change to reflect the contemporary nature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and culture. We know the key areas of need for our community and we are impatient for change. We would like to have done more. Child protection is a complex area of legislation, policy and practice and we would like to have understood more fully all the nuances of the system and the nature of the engagement of other areas of the ACT government, for example, education, health, housing and justice. This review consulted broadly across the community and reviewed the case files of 307 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were in contact with the child protection system as at 31 December 2017. We have then checked the current circumstances of a sample number of children from the initial review within the system as at end of June 2019 to see what evidence we could find of changed practice since commencing this review. In addition, we reviewed a small sample of children who had entered into the system between 31 December 2017 and 30 June 2019. We have started building momentum for change, but we still have a long way to go. The implementation of each recommendation to its full intent and potential is critical. The importance for our children and the future of our culture cannot be underestimated. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community expect, and will lead, change. Barb Causon Chairperson Our Booris, Our Way This report demands change. OUR BOORIS, OUR WAY 5 Family should be considered first if a child is removed from their parents. The child should go to someone he knows (like grandparents) while CYPS make investigation and decisions about the future. Grandparent OUR BOORIS, OUR WAY 6 CONTENTS FOREWORD ..................................................................................................................................................5 Glossary........................................................................................................................................................8 Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................12 VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY .....................................................................................................................14 FOUNDATIONS OF THIS REPORT ............................................................................................................18 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER CHILD PLACEMENT PRINCIPLE (ATSICPP) ......... 20 COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVIEW ......................................................................................................