The state has failed children in out-of-home care, a study says, with many unaware of their background and split from siblings
Victoria’s child protection system has comprehensively failed Aboriginal children in out-of-home care, with many of the children unaware of their cultural identity, a landmark report has found.
The report tabled to parliament on Wednesday is the result of a two-year investigation into 980 Aboriginal children in out-of-home care, dubbed ‘Taskforce 1000’. It was led by the state’s commissioner for Aboriginal children and young people, Andrew Jackomos.
The report, titled Always Was, Always Will Be, Koori Children, reveals failures across systems to care for Aboriginal children. It found there had been a 59% increase in the number of Victorian Aboriginal children in out-of-home care between 2013 to 2015, and that the numbers have grown since.
“Many children did not know they were Aboriginal, were split from siblings, and left for years in residential care – isolated from family, culture and country – when they might have been in the loving care of grandparents or other relatives,” Jackomos said.
“We had child protection officials tell us they had been unable to trace a child’s Aboriginal family for years when we were able to track them down on Facebook within minutes.”
Almost 20% of children in out-of-home care are Aboriginal, despite Aboriginal people representing less than 1% of the Victorian population. Many of these children were placed away from communities in non-Aboriginal households, Jackomos wrote in his executive summary to the report.
Of the 980 Aboriginal children investigated, 88% had experienced family violence, 87% were exposed to parental substance abuse, 42% were placed away from their extended family and 86% were case managed by a non-Aboriginal agency.
Children were too often placed into a system that did not value or respect Aboriginal people and their culture and which failed to keep children safe over generations, the report found.
The report highlights the stories of several of the children, including a boy named Bert who was five years old when he first came to the attention of child protection. Over the next eight years, the majority of further concerns for his safety due to significant family violence that was reported to child protection were closed without investigation.
“Before entering out-of-home care, Bert and his two younger siblings disclosed their experiences of sexual abuse to Victoria police, but charges were not laid against the perpetrator,” the report found.
Bert had not received any counselling. Eventually, he became physically abusive towards his six younger siblings, began using drugs and was admitted to in-patient placements in a mental health facility in Melbourne four times.
The report makes 79 recommendations including early intervention programs to address family violence, and a greater effort to place Aboriginal children with Aboriginal carers or connect them to their history and culture.
The report also calls on the federal government to reduce the number of Aboriginal children in out of home care in the first place, as well as the number of children in juvenile detention.
“Tracing the stories of individual children and their families across Victoria, we saw generations caught up in criminal justice and child protection systems, struggling with unemployment, poverty, poor education, high rates of suicide and the over-riding impact of the past impacting on the present,” Jackomos said.
“We know the trajectory, and that if we don’t act now, we are condemning the next generation to similar grief, loss and trauma.”
Victoria’s minister for families and children, Jenny Mikakos, said all the recommendations had been accepted in full, in principle or in part. Some of the recommendations were already in progress or completed, she said.
Additional Aboriginal staff had been employed by the department of health and human services, shes aid, and four Aboriginal graduate positions will be offered at the department in 2017.
Earlier this year, the government introduced its Roadmap for Reform with $168m in funding towards prevention and early intervention, investments in support services for vulnerable families, extra child protection workers, culturally sensitive support for Aboriginal children, and more foster and kinship carers, including Aboriginal carers.
“Maintaining children’s connection to culture is absolutely essential for Aboriginal children and young people, and we know more must be done to help every individual,” Mikakos said
“This is a significant report and I look forward to working with Mr Jackomos, Aboriginal organisations and the community sector on addressing the unacceptable overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care.”
Victorian Greens’ spokesperson for families and children, Nina Springle, accused child protection authorities of failing to comply with their legal requirements in regards to Aboriginal children.
“As a result of multiple systemic failures, the numbers of Aboriginal children being removed from their families and communities are now higher than during the period of the Stolen Generations,” she said.