North Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Services (NAAFLS)
Public Statement
Response to Reviewing Implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle Northern Territory 2021–23
Last week SNAICC – National Voice for our Children (SNAICC) released its annual review of the progress of the Northern Territory (NT) Government, through the Department of Children and Families (the Department), in implementing the full intent of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (Child Placement Principle) (1 July 2021 – 30 June 2023).
North Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Service (NAAFLS) is disappointed to see a continued lack of culturally appropriate responses for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families across the NT. When we know that Aboriginal-led initiatives and place-based solutions are most successful for Aboriginal people, we must ask why only 7% of the Department’s $223 million investment in children and family services was allocated to Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations.
As an Aboriginal-led Family Violence Prevention Legal Service, NAAFLS advocates every day for the voices of Aboriginal children and young people, particularly in out-of-home care and their families, championing their interests in child protection and Family Court proceedings.
“The safety and wellbeing of our children engaged with child protection services, requires early access to culturally appropriate and preventative services that empower families to lead decision-making on how to keep their child or young person safe and connected,” says NAAFLS CEO, Cindy Torrens.
SNAICC’s review also highlights the NT continues to have the poorest performance in the country for maintaining children’s strong connection with culture, despite the legislation providing Aboriginal children with the right to be brought up with their own family and community and on their own Country.
With the intersection between contact with the child protection system and youth justice being well-evidenced, Ms Torrens said “it was also deeply concerning to see our Aboriginal young people in youth detention moved from Alice Springs to Darwin at the end of 2024, further impacting their connection to community and family supports.”
“We welcome the opportunity to hear how the NT Government will support young people to remain connected to their culture, community and Country, whether youth justice or out-of-home care,” Ms Torrens continues.
NAAFLS will continue to work in partnership with the Department to support families earlier through its Child Protection Notification and Referral Program. The Program aims to reduce the overrepresentation of children in the child protection system in the NT by implementing a strengths-based, Aboriginal Family-Led Decision Making (AFLDM) model that will seek to shift the unequal power dynamics that have historically existed between the Department and families.
Contact:
Megan Ellis, Executive Policy Officer, E: [email protected] M: 0407 616 647
Lee Vanderwarker, CINOP Project Manager, E: [email protected] M: 0488 440 261
