Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle
Early intervention and holistic family support should always be the first port of call.
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The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle is about safeguarding the rights of Aboriginal children and young people, their families, and communities within the statutory child protection system. It acknowledges the effects of decades of destructive government policies that tore apart Aboriginal families and recognises that Aboriginal people must be intimately involved in all aspects of child and family welfare to stop this damaging cycle from repeating.
The key goal of the Principle is the same as our goal at AbSec: to keep Aboriginal families together and to protect every Aboriginal child’s right to their community and culture. These are central to an Aboriginal child’s identity and have been shown to help them grow up strong and confident.
The five core elements
1. Prevention
Governments actively support families to address risks, preventing harm and preserving families.
2. Partnership
Statutory authorities work with Aboriginal people and their organisations in the design and delivery of child and family systems with as much self-determination as possible.
3. Placement
Where Aboriginal children require alternate care, placement must follow a hierarchy that prioritises their family and kin, their Aboriginal community, and the broader Aboriginal community before placements outside of their family and culture.
4. Participation
Aboriginal children and young people, their families, and communities have the right to participate in all decisions that affect their lives, and the lives of their children.
5. Connection
All decisions must value every Aboriginal child’s right to be connected to their family, community, culture, and Country, and support them to do so.
SNAICC: A Guide to Support Implementation
The resource by SNAICC, The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: A Guide to Support Implementation, aims to support a holistic understanding and the full and uniform implementation of the Principle across the country. The guide is designed to support practitioners and policy makers in the children and family sectors from all jurisdictions to develop strategies to improve their implementation of the Principle.
Enacting change
These elements are endorsed by the NSW Government and reflected in the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act, but their application is a much more complicated matter. AbSec works to keep the Government accountable for enacting the Principle and supports the Department of Communities and Justice in finding the best solutions for Aboriginal children and young people.
