At the end of AbSec’s latest quarterly Sector Forum CEO John Leha reflected on a highly successful event.
“This marks the beginning of a redesign of the suite of structured decision-making tools on the part of the Aboriginal community at large,” Mr Leha said.
“This is another significant step towards reforming child protection in New South Wales.”
The forum was attended by 150 people from across NSW and interstate, including government agencies and community organisations – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.
“I commend everybody for the cooperative spirit with which they all came together to discuss issues that we all know are urgent,” Mr Leha said.
“The need for reform is recognised by all and there is universal awareness that it will only be achieved through combined action.”
Among the speakers was Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington.
“We’ve got a lot of steps to take and its significant reform we are undertaking … so to be able to work together is really critical,” Minister Washington said.
“Nice words are nice, but actions are far more important.”
Also attending was NSW Childrens Court President Ellen Skinner, speaking about the Active Efforts program.
“We’re trying to do this with the parents rather than at them,” she said.
“We’re just going to keep trying to sort this out and were just going to have to do it differently.”
The wall’s were adorned with thousands of small paper handprints, a reminder of the 6,364 Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care today.
“The handprints are a reminder that these are not abstract issues, that each handprint symbolises the life of a child,” Mr Leha said.
“I would like to thank each of the attendees, particularly those from Aboriginal-controlled community organisations, and the sector at large for a very successful event.
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