ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE KOORI CHILDREN Systemic inquiry into services provided to Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care in Victoria October 2016 Artwork © Coming Home (acrylic on canvas 2014) © Commission for Children and Young People 2016 reproduced with permission of the artist, Eileen Harrison. This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted Eileen Harrison is a Gunai/Kurnai woman, artist and under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced respected Elder from south-east Victoria. by any process without prior written permission from the Commission for Children and Young People, Level 20, All the baby emus in this painting are coming home. 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000. The black emus depict the mothers and the larger emus depict Elders wearing their possum skin cloaks. Suggested citation: This work represents people coming home to their Commission for Children and Young People, ‘Always was, ancestral lands, their place. Country is where you belong. always will be Koori children’: Systemic inquiry into services provided to Aboriginal children and young people in out-of- home care in Victoria (Melbourne: Commission for Children and Young People, 2016). ISBN 978-0-9945296-2-6 Commission for Children and Young People Level 20, 570 Bourke Street Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 Freecall: 1300 78 29 78 Phone: (613) 8601 5884 Email: [email protected] www.ccyp.vic.gov.au Ordered to be published by the Victorian Government Printer October 2016 PP No 207, Session 2014–16 This report contains material that may cause distress. Aboriginal people are warned that this report may contain images or names of deceased persons. Pseudonyms have been used for all case studies presented in this report. Letter to the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE KOORI CHILDREN 1 Acknowledgements The Commission greatly values the stories The Commission also acknowledges the support and and experiences of Aboriginal children and commitment of: young people in state care, which have • former Minister for Community Services, Hon Mary helped inform this Inquiry and will continue Wooldridge, and the current Minister for Children to drive the future work of the Commission. and Families, Hon Jenny Mikakos, for their support of the concept of Taskforce 1000 and its eventual implementation The vital role of families and carers and their important • previous DHS Secretaries and current DHHS Secretary, contribution to this Inquiry though the Taskforce 1000 Ms Kym Peake, for co-chairing the Taskforce 1000 Community Yarns are recognised by the Commission. Steering Committee and for their commitment to driving change and improving practice for Aboriginal children in The Commission acknowledges and thanks the many out-of-home care individuals and organisations who have contributed to this Inquiry and the Taskforce 1000 project, which underpins • members of the Taskforce 1000 Steering Committee much of the evidence presented in this report. • executive, management and staff in ACCOs and CSOs The Commission thanks all workers across government across Victoria for their participation in Taskforce 1000 and community who have worked with the children and their and provision of services to Aboriginal children families on a daily basis and over many years, providing invaluable insight through their presentations at Taskforce • DHHS area managers who co-chaired Taskforce 1000 1000 about the experiences of Aboriginal children in care. area panels Their contributions have helped to improve the lives of the children reviewed and have contributed to systemic reform • DHHS divisional child protection practitioners involved for children in the future. in Taskforce 1000 • Commission staff who supported the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People during Taskforce 1000 and in the preparation of this report. 2 ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE KOORI CHILDREN Commissioners’ foreword Historically, Aboriginal children have The Commission’s Inquiry found significant departures shouldered the brunt of our colonial past – from existing requirements to promote and preserve the exploited by settlers for free labour, preyed cultural rights of Aboriginal children in care. Limited access upon by missionaries seeking to save their to culturally appropriate education services and supports and widespread non-compliance with cultural planning – souls and torn from loving families and alongside a failure to adequately engage Aboriginal families, communities in an effort to extinguish their communities and organisations in decision-making – are culture and identity. exacerbating upheaval and distress for Aboriginal children in the child protection system. This Inquiry found that, overwhelmingly, children are Tragically, we see today in Victoria that Aboriginal children entering care as a result of family violence and parental continue to disproportionately bear the burden of our history. substance abuse. More needs to be done to prevent and They witness the pain and the scars of their Elders. They address this pathway for children entering care and to may be dislocated from their ancestry and family history, support Aboriginal families to remain together and thrive. where past government practices have severed these links. There is no cure for a permanent loss of identity and culture; Their safety and security at home may be compromised by prevention is paramount. entrenched social disadvantage and dysfunction, borne of a history of dispossession, racism and marginalisation. This report has identified a number of opportunities to safeguard Aboriginal children’s cultural rights. Increasing While child protection practices and attitudes have Aboriginal involvement and participation in the child undoubtedly changed over the years, the concerning rate protection system is central to this. Embedding a more of Aboriginal children being removed from their homes has robust performance measurement system that attaches not. Almost 20 per cent of children in out-of-home care are responsibility for improvement to those in leadership Aboriginal, despite Aboriginal people representing less than positions, flowing through to those working directly with 1 per cent of the Victorian population. Many of these children families, will drive greater compliance and accountability are placed away from their families and communities, often for all. in non-Aboriginal households, where their ability to remain connected to their culture is compromised. Many of the findings and recommendations in this report are not new or surprising. They are consistent with what we If we do not confront the reality of the over-representation of have learned from a number of previous inquiries that have Aboriginal children in our child protection system, we risk examined government interaction with Aboriginal people, allowing the ghosts of our colonial history to do more than dating back to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths haunt us. We risk allowing harmful outcomes for Aboriginal in Custody in 1991. Too many of the lessons gleaned from children to continue unabated. previous inquiries sit unaddressed, fuelled by a growing complacency and the acceptance of poorer outcomes for This report outlines the findings of the Commission’s Aboriginal people as inevitable. systemic inquiry into services provided to Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care. It shines In light of this, the Commission is pleased to reflect a light on a system that has failed to actively question and on significant and timely reforms led by the Victorian evaluate the impact of its actions on some of our most Government to address the growing over-representation of vulnerable children. It draws upon the work of the Taskforce Aboriginal children in the child protection system. Bipartisan 1000 project, an innovative model bringing together support for the recommendations of this Inquiry will be Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal service providers and crucial in enabling the transfer of targets and resources policymakers to critically examine the circumstances of to ACCOs for the case management and placement of the almost 1,000 Aboriginal children in out-of-home care. Aboriginal children. ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE KOORI CHILDREN 3 Commissioners’ foreword The positive response to the Koorie kids: Growing strong in their culture submission from the Aboriginal community has seen a deliberate shift towards self-determination, evidenced through the plan to transfer case management of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care to Aboriginal community controlled organisations. The Aboriginal Children’s Forum, a regular meeting of Aboriginal organisations, government representatives and the broader community sector, will also help maintain momentum and shared responsibility for reducing the number of Aboriginal children in the child protection system and improving meaningful cultural connection for those within it. An Aboriginal child is not only a family member, but also a member of a clan and a first Australian, born imbued with a connection to Country and responsibilities to generations that have walked before and the countless generations that will follow. It is our collective responsibility to ensure every Aboriginal child has the opportunity to learn, practice and pass on their culture. They can only fulfil this obligation when they know who they are and where they have come from. Yours sincerely Liana Buchanan Andrew Jackomos PSM Principal Commissioner Commissioner