Thursday, 9 February 2023

Ministers statements: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers, Minister for Child Protection and Family Services) (12:33): In the short time that I have been Minister for Child Protection and Family Services there has been much discussion in this place regarding Indigenous children and young people in care. These matters are far too important to be reduced to political squabbling, and today I rise to update the house regarding Indigenous children and young people in care.

First I acknowledge that we discuss this issue on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present. I also acknowledge that for tens of thousands of years before us Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people cared for their families, including their children and young people, on these lands, as did all Aboriginal people throughout their respective lands.

Sadly, today Aboriginal children and young people are significantly over-represented in our child protection system. Aboriginal children are more likely to be placed in child protection and too many Aboriginal babies are being removed from their mothers. These statistics are tragic. There is no hiding them and no disguising them, and we all need to do more. The Premier and I have said we will do more. This government has committed through the Roadmap for Reform and more recently the Wungurilwil Gapgapduir to prioritise efforts to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal children in care. We have invested over $160 million in this strategy and its nation-leading initiatives, and we are starting to see positive results.

Victoria has the highest rate of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care who are placed with Aboriginal relatives, non-Aboriginal relatives or with an Aboriginal carer – above 70 per cent. However, we can and we must do more. We know that greater self-determination will lead to better outcomes, and this government has committed to reintroducing a bill to enshrine important changes to the Children, Youth and Families Act to reduce over-representation. Changes include a statement of recognition and binding recognition principles in the Children, Youth and Families Act and expanding the Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care program. I look forward to these changes receiving support from every member of this house, because Aboriginal children’s wellbeing is well above politics.