Aboriginal Children’s Commissioner April Lawrie calls for stronger laws to keep First Nations children with family

The state government being urged to take up laws making it mandatory for Aboriginal children removed from their parents to be placed with Aboriginal relatives or kin.

Removals of Aboriginal children from their parents are reaching levels “close to those of the Stolen Generation” and the law must be strengthened to keep them with family, the state’s Aboriginal Children’s Commissioner says.

April Lawrie has declared the child protection system “is broken for Aboriginal children” and warned “we cannot allow another child to die”.

Her plea for change is made in an affidavit to the Coroner’s court as part of an inquest into the death of 13-year-old Aboriginal boy Zhane Chilcott, who took his life in state care in 2016.

“The child protection system is broken for Aboriginal children. Their voices are lost and they are disconnected from their families, communities and culture,” Ms Lawrie said.

“We cannot allow another child to die in these circumstances.”

Ms Lawrie is urging the state government to use a current review of child protection laws to make it mandatory for Aboriginal children removed from their parents to be placed with Aboriginal relatives or kin, and for the Child Protection Department to hold a family group conference with every Aboriginal child’s extended family to find the best people to care for them.

Aboriginal Children’s Commissioner April Lawrie says the child protection system “is broken for Aboriginal children”. Picture: Matt Turner

Current laws say authorities “should, if reasonably practicable” place an Aboriginal child with Aboriginal family or community members but Ms Lawrie said there has been a “manifest failure to implement this”.

“Removals of Aboriginal children are increasing and are reaching unprecedented levels, close to those of the Stolen Generation,” she said.

Latest Productivity Commission data shows there were 4417 SA children in state care at the end of last financial year, and 1705 (almost 39 per cent) were Aboriginal.

In contrast, First Nations children make up less than five per cent of the total population.

A decade ago there were 2657 children in care in SA and 788 (29.6 per cent) were Aboriginal.

“Families of Aboriginal children are not supported to overcome the existential challenges of poverty and racism that can result in substance abuse, domestic violence and homelessness,” Ms Lawrie said, describing the funding allocated to Aboriginal-run support services as “woefully inadequate”.

“We need some legislative levers to force the state to invest much, much more into early help for these families,” she told The Advertiser.

Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard said planned to introduce changes to Parliament in the middle of the year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Emma Brasier

Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard said she had “vigorously expressed my support” for strengthening laws around placing Aboriginal children with family and planned to introduce changes to Parliament in the middle of the year which would “embed (that) principle and empower the voices of Aboriginal children, young people, their families and communities”.

Ms Hildyard said the government was working to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal children in care and would be “making further announcements” in coming weeks.

“The rates at which Aboriginal children and young people are entering care is of deep concern,” she said.

Outgoing department chief executive Cathy Taylor agreed “much more needs to be done to improve outcomes for Aboriginal children” and that better outcomes are achieved when “Aboriginal families lead decision making for Aboriginal children”.

However, she did not believe it was “practical to require consultation on every decision impacting a placement” of an Aboriginal child.