$770 million spent, but Indigenous children are being removed from Far North homes at record levels

The number of Far North Queensland Indigenous children removed by the state government has grown by more than 40 per cent in a decade.

Indigenous children in Aurukun, a remote aboriginal community 800 kilometres north west of Cairns on Cape York. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

The number of Far North Queensland Indigenous children removed by the state government has grown by more than 40 per cent in a decade, in what one advocacy group has labelled the “second stolen generation”.

It comes despite the government investing more than $770m across 11 years to target

over representation of Indigenous children in out of home care.

Queensland Family and Child Commissioner Natalie Lewis said the figures directly contradicted the Closing the Gap target to reduce the rate of over representation in out of home care by 45 per cent.

“Despite Queensland’s commitment to the Our Way Strategy and the Closing The Gap target 12, more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people are in the Queensland child protection system than ever before,” Ms Lewis said.

Department of Child Safety figures show the number of Indigenous children being placed in out of home care in the Cape York, Lower Cape York, North Cairns, and Torres Strait Islands area has risen nearly every year over the past decade — rising from 222 in the 2013-14 period to 303 in the 2022-23 financial year.

Since 2014,2534 Indigenous children have been removed from their homes across Far North Queensland.

The rise across the Far North is higher than the Queensland trend, which has jumped 25 per cent since 2018 from 112 per 100,000 Indigenous children to 144 per 100,000 in 2022.

By comparison, the rate of non-Indigenous children placed in out of home care has risen from 16 per 100,000 in 2018 to 20 per 100,000 in 2022.

Queensland Children's Commissioner Natalie Lewis. Picture David Clark

The increase comes despite a significant drop in the number of allegations of harm to Indigenous children - by nearly half - in the decade since 2014.

“This growing over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Queensland’s child protection system is alarming and demands urgent, serious and meaningful action,” Ms Lewis said.

Family Inclusion Network Townsville president Bobbi Robertson says she has several clients in the Far North and the Department of Child Safety is failing both kids and their parents. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Bobbi Robertson, president of the Family Inclusion Network Townsville, has several clients and parents who have had their children removed in the Far North.

She claims the Department of Child Safety removes children too quickly.

“Parents are often in a difficult situation. If they go to a domestic violence service and ask for help, it gets reported and the children get removed,” she said.

“If your try to get help because your child has anger issues, the child gets removed. If your having trouble managing your child’s behaviour, the child gets removed.”

Ms Robertson said more departmental resources should be dedicated to helping families resolve their problems.

“Parents need to be better supported,” she said.

“Otherwise it’s just a situation that kids are removed from families and then those kids grow up and have kids and their kids are removed … it’s the second stolen generation.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Child Safety said: “We know First Nations children are over-represented in child protection systems across Australia. We are working hard to change this in Queensland and remain focused on our Closing The Gap commitments.”

“Removal of children from their parents is always a last resort and only occurs when a child is being significantly harmed or at risk of significant harm and does not have a parent able and willing to protect them from that harm”.

She said the department was working on “shared decision-making with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations” to address the issue.

Originally published as $770 million spent, but Indigenous children are being removed from Far North homes at record levels