Family is Culture

Uniting for Justice and Change: Advocating for the Full Realisation of the Rights of Aboriginal Children, Young People, and Families

The Family Is Culture (FIC) review report is a comprehensive review focused on the experiences of Aboriginal children, young people and families impacted by the child protection system in New South Wales.

It aims to safeguard the rights and wellbeing of these children, highlighting systemic failures and offering crucial recommendations for reform. The report is a vital tool for Aboriginal communities, providing a foundation for advocacy and policy change that upholds cultural integrity, ensures better outcomes, and supports the preservation of strong familial and community bonds.

Aboriginal children now make up 44% of children in out-of-home care in New South Wales, despite only making up 5% of children in the state. They are 10 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children and young people.

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Report on Government Services 2023: data table 16A.2

"...the child protection system is not adequately protecting and supporting children and families and this situation is not improving."

"...I thought that if I had done all these parenting programs, I addressed my mental health issues and I was drug free, I thought that if I did all of this and went back to court that I would get my kids back, and that wasn’t the case at all.”

"This struggle for our kids to stay safe with their families is not just a burst of activism; it is a generational battle that demands our unwavering commitment.

"Our community is strong because we are deeply connected. We know what’s best for our children. And we know that removing them from their families, their communities, their culture, and their Country causes harm."

"We will be the guardians of our own wellbeing. We will be the storytellers of our own future. We will follow the footsteps of our ancestors, healing our children and families through our ways of knowing, being and doing."

"...[t]here is little evidence that receipt of a PSP package substantially improved children’s safety, permanency, stability and wellbeing.”

Timeline

Community experience and countless reviews and reports have shown that the NSW child protection system is failing in its mandate to safeguard the wellbeing of children. Despite the constant appearance and language of reform, the NSW Government has proven incapable of achieving positive change in the years since the FIC Review.

The timeline from 2016 to today is one of strong community leadership on child protection reform and persistent failures of leadership from government. It demonstrates that if we want to uphold our collective responsibility to children and families, radical change is needed, and it needs to be led by Aboriginal communities.

2016

Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR) holds a march in Sydney on National Sorry Day to protest the ongoing removal of Aboriginal children, part of a series of demonstrations highlighting the harm from interventions in the lives of Aboriginal children and families. They demand an independent review of Aboriginal children in OOHC. GMAR and ALS offer to lead this community-focused review, with then Minister for Family and Community Services, Brad Hazzard, acknowledging its potential benefits.

GMAR demands Aboriginal control of the independent review to ensure self-determination in decisions regarding Aboriginal children’s welfare and realisation of potential reunification opportunities.

The NSW Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 3 publishes Reparations for the Stolen Generations in New South Wales: Unfinished Business. This report notes the over-representation of Aboriginal children in OOHC and expresses support for self-determination in the child protection system, recommending investment in early intervention and compliance with the ATSICPP and cultural care plans.

Minister Hazzard announces Professor Megan Davis as Chair of the Family Is Culture Review, the first Aboriginal-led review of Aboriginal children in OOHC in NSW, aimed at understanding the causes of over-representation in OOHC.

2017

The NSW Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 2 releases its report Child Protection, highlighting alarming rates of Aboriginal children in OOHC, noting that despite ongoing reform efforts "...there appears to be no evidence that the situation is improving."

The report recommends greater Aboriginal self-determination in family support and protection decisions.

The Independent Review Reference Group, including GMAR representatives and Aboriginal youth ambassadors, meets to agree on research methods for the Review and community engagement approaches.

The documentary ‘After the Apology’ highlights the worsening crisis of Aboriginal child removal post-Apology across Australia and traces GMAR’s national movement to reconnect families. Through this process, GMAR develop the Guiding Principles for Strengthening the Participation of Local Aboriginal Community in Child Protection Decision Making.

2018

Greg Donnelly MLC moves a motion for the full tabling of the previously secret Final Report of the Independent Review of OOHC in NSW, completed in 2016 by David Tune AO PSM.

The Final Report found the system “ineffective and unsustainable” and recommended an investment and commissioning approach that prioritised the families who needed it the most.

2019

The Report of the Family Is Culture Review is released, revealing a child protection system failing Aboriginal children and families. The Report provides a roadmap for system transformation, grounded in self-determination and public accountability and oversight.

In addition to its 126 systemic recommendations, the Report makes over 3,000 individual case-specific recommendations. AbSec welcomes the Report as a “watershed moment” and calls for immediate implementation in partnership with Aboriginal communities and organisations.

2020

AbSec, ALS, and SNAICC along with a collective of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations, send a joint letter to Premier Gladys Berejiklian endorsing the FIC Report and calling for immediate budget investment for the implementation of its recommendations.

The NSW Government provides a three-and-a-half page response to the FIC Report eight months after its release. The Peaks criticise the failure of the Government to engage with Aboriginal communities and organisations in developing its response. AbSec calls the response “inadequate” and “unremarkable” and ALS criticises the Government’s proposal to delay consideration of crucial legislative reforms to 2024.

The NSW Audit Office releases its report examining the governance and partnership arrangements in place to deliver the NSW Government’s ‘Their Futures Matter’ reform program. The Audit Office concludes that the arrangements were ineffective and that "an evidence-based whole-of-government early intervention approach for vulnerable children and families in NSW − the key objective of the reform − was not established.”

2021

The Family Is Culture Advocacy Working Group publishes a framework for independent Aboriginal community oversight of the implementation of FIC recommendations − Honouring Family Is Culture: NSW Aboriginal Community Monitoring and Reporting Framework.

Greens MP David Shoebridge introduces into NSW Parliament the Family Is Culture Amendment Bill, supported by AbSec and the ALS, to implement certain legislative reforms recommended by the FIC Review. This is opposed and defeated by the NSW Government, which continues to delay legislative reforms until 2024.

2022

The Office of the Children’s Guardian publishes its Special Report under section 139(2) of the Children’s Guardian Act 2019: Family is Culture Review.

The Special Report reaffirms the findings of the FIC Review and identifies four priorities for implementing FIC-related reforms: strengthen Aboriginal-led services; strengthen governance and oversight; leverage Aboriginal family and community strengths; and a stronger Aboriginal focus for regulation of the sector.

The NSW Government releases a Discussion Paper on FIC legislative reforms. This Discussion Paper suggests certain reforms be delayed to an unspecified time in the future because they require “further time and consultation” and that for some recommendations “existing policy setting may already be sufficient”.

The FIC Advocacy Working Group releases an alternative Discussion Paper, outlining a community perspective on recommended legislative reforms. The Discussion Paper emphasises the urgency of legislative reforms and puts them into two categories -those that could and should be implemented immediately, and those that should be implemented within 12 months, to allow for further development with community.

The NSW Parliament passes the Family Is Culture Amendment Bill, implementing 13 out of 25 legislative recommendations. Advocates welcome the changes but note the reforms fall short of the comprehensive change that is needed.

The Parliamentary Committee on Children and Young People publishes a report on child protection, recommending more support services for parents and that there be annual updates by NSW Government on its response to the FIC Review recommendations.

2023

The Centre for Evidence and Implementation releases a report evaluating the Permanency Support Program, finding that "[t]here is little evidence that receipt of a PSP package substantially improved children’s safety, permanency, stability and wellbeing.” The report recommends substantial overhaul.

The ‘Hughes Review’ is released in response to an interim judgment of the Children’s Court of NSW, in which a Magistrate called out the “shocking and unacceptable” standard of care, the “unconscionable” treatment and the “appalling neglect” of two siblings in OOHC by contracted care providers and DCJ. The Review identifies systemic issues in the OOHC system, making 24 recommendations for improvement after revelations of neglect and poor care standards.

The new Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington convenes the Aboriginal Child Safety and Wellbeing Reform Forum and subsequently announces her nine immediate actions for urgent reform based on community input.

The “active efforts” provisions of the Family Is Culture Amendment Bill commence. The voices of communities and the Peaks are marginalised and the process is government-led, with the Peaks calling out extensive and unjustified delays and tokenistic consultation on the draft policy. There is fear that the policy will not deliver the intended results, because of the lack of input and the poor process.

2024

The Productivity Commission releases its Review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The Report finds that Government has "failed to fully grasp the nature and scale of change required to meet the obligations they signed up to." The Productivity Commission is deeply critical of government actions and plans which simply re-label business-as-usual approaches or make minor, non-transformational tweaks to existing ways of working.

The NSW Government announces a review of the Structured Decision-Making risk assessment tools, in response to mounting evidence and concerns from AbSec, the ALS and others about racial bias and wrongful child protection intervention in relation to Aboriginal children and families.

The NSW Audit Office releases two reports, criticising the child protection system as ineffective and unsustainable and lacking oversight. Further, the Audit Office finds that DCJ has failed to establish governance, accountability and quality assurance mechanisms to safeguard the rights of Aboriginal children and their families and has made negligible progress in implementing key strategies, independent recommendations and reforms designed to improve outcomes for Aboriginal children and families.

The NSW Ombudsman tables its Protecting Children at Risk Special Report, finding "the child protection system is not adequately protecting and supporting children and families and this situation is not improving," and that DCJ cannot demonstrate that it is meeting any of its core child protection responsibilities.

The Advocate for Children and Young People’s (‘ACYP’) Final Report into children and young people in alternative care arrangements (‘ACAs’) highlights shocking cases of neglect, sexual assault, instability and isolation, lack of access to therapeutic supports, and exposure to rampant drug use. The ACYP recommends that the NSW Government discontinue the use of ACAs as a matter of priority.

The Office of the Children’s Guardian releases its Strengthening OOHC and the Broader Child Protection System Report. The Report identifies five key issues impacting the quality of statutory OOHC in NSW, including the significant over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in ACA placements.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal releases an Interim Report noting concerns from stakeholders that funding for the care of Aboriginal children by ACCOs, and their transfer to ACCO-delivered care, is not transparent and does not reflect the costs.

Fifth Anniversary of the release of the Family is Culture Review Report. Only 12 of the 126 recommendations for systemic reform have been reported by DCJ as completed. As for outcomes for Aboriginal children and families of the FIC Review, there has been little to no transparency on implementation of the over 3000 case-specific recommendations. Aboriginal children continue to be grossly over-represented in the NSW child protection system.

Stay up-to-date with our future actions and be the driving force for change.

The Family Is Culture Review

In 2016, the NSW Government commissioned an independent review into the disproportionate and increasing number of Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care, including a deep-dive into the circumstances of 1,153 Aboriginal children and young people entering out-of-home care from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016.

The Family Is Culture Review Report was released in November 2019, detailing a child protection system in crisis. The report described a system lacking in accountability that maintains a resonance with historical practices of child removal used against Aboriginal communities, along with numerous other concerning trends. The final report made 126 recommendations for structural change to the child protection system and over 3,000 recommendations about specific children and young people.

AbSec's response to the Review

After the release of the report, AbSec, together with a collective of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations, sent a letter to the then Premier, the Hon. Gladys Berejiklian, to demand real action and real change for the thousands of Aboriginal children and young people impacted by the New South Wales child protection system. We also distributed a media release to draw attention to the continued suffering inflicted on Aboriginal children, families, and communities within the outdated and biased child protection system.

The NSW Government provided a brief response to the Family Is Culture Review Report in July 2020, establishing an Aboriginal Knowledge Circle and Aboriginal Deputy Children’s Guardian. AbSec called the three-and-a-half page response “unremarkable” and highlighted the failure to engage with Aboriginal communities and organisations in developing their response.

Since the initial response, the NSW Government has released two progress reports. Neither of these reports or the initial response were developed in consultation with our communities. Throughout these reports, there remains a significant number of crucial recommendations that have been delayed or ignored.

Priority areas for implementation

AbSec, along with numerous other community organisations, continues to call for the full implementation of the Family Is Culture recommendations in partnership with Aboriginal communities, starting with the five areas our communities have identified as priorities for implementation. These are:

Strengthening system accountability and oversight

including establishing an independent commission with at least one Aboriginal Commissioner and an Aboriginal Advisory Body appointed in consultation with the Aboriginal community;

Expediting the suite of legislative reforms

to strengthen safeguards for Aboriginal children and young people and their families;

Significantly greater investment in early support and keeping families together

at least equal to the proportion of Aboriginal children in the child protection system and directed through an Aboriginal commissioning framework;

Embedding the Aboriginal Case Management Policy and Practice Guidance

including the establishment of Aboriginal Community Controlled Mechanisms, Community Facilitators, and Aboriginal Family Led Decision-Making;

Embedding Indigenous data sovereignty

establishing the systems, structures, and processes to enable communities to collect, own and use their data.

The overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care continues to increase!

If you believe Aboriginal children have the right to grow up safe and strong in their culture and community, sign the petition and tell the NSW Government to stop delaying these crucial reforms.

Holding the NSW Government accountable

Two years on from the release of the Family Is Culture Review Report, the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care continues to increase. AbSec and the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) have come together to release a community report card framework to hold the NSW Government to account in implementing the Family Is Culture recommendations. Future report cards are planned to monitor and report on the progress of the NSW Government from the perspective of Aboriginal communities.

As the peak organisations for Aboriginal children and legal services, AbSec and the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) have condemned the NSW Government’s failure to deliver the crucial reform required to stop the removal of more than 900 Aboriginal children from their families each year.

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