Indigenous fears over blame for Closing the Gap failures

Indigenous researchers have expressed concern about a new target to reduce the number of ­Aboriginal children in out-of-home care.

Indigenous researchers on child protection have expressed concern about a new Closing the Gap target to reduce the number of ­Aboriginal and Torres Strait ­Islander children in out-of-home care by 45 per cent by 2031.

Kyllie Cripps, a Palawa woman who has worked for 20 years in the areas of family violence, sexual ­assault and child abuse with Indigenous communities, said she also worried that if the target was not reached, Indigenous organisations would wear the blame.

A key element of the new Closing the Gap agreement, due to be released within days, is that community-controlled Indigenous ­organisations will be boosted and then they will do the work non-­Indigenous organisations currently do.

“John Howard labelled ATSIC, for a range of reasons, a failed ­social experiment,” Dr Cripps said.

“I worry that the push to shift what has been state and territory responsibilities to Indigenous organisations without appropriate and adequate investment in people skills and financial resources could mean the government in a few years time will say again that this was a failed social experiment, blaming Indigenous communities and organisations for not reducing the gap. (It is) a gap that governments have failed themselves to address. My scepticism is based on the fact that governments have repeatedly not prioritised funding or followed through on key recommendations from inquiries.”

As an example, Dr Cripps said the NSW government had not ­allocated new resources to address issues raised in the recent Family is Culture report on children in care.

There are 16 targets in the yet-to-be-released Closing the Gap agreement. All states and territories will be signatories and will have a year to present implementation plans to the body known as the Joint Council, co-chaired by Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt and Pat Turner, who represents 50 Indigenous organisations.

Documents obtained by The Australian show the Joint Council has set more aggressive targets on Indigenous incarceration rates. For example, the draft final agreement sets a new target of at least 15 per cent fewer Indigenous adults in prisons by 2031 compared with an earlier goal of a 5 per cent ­reduction by 2028. But a commitment to reduce the proportion of Indigenous women and girls aged 15 and older who have experienced violence in the past year by 50 per cent by 2031 has been dropped. Instead, the states and territories have committed to a sustained and significant reduction with no numerical target attached.

Jacynta Krakouer, a Mineng Noongar woman who lectures and researches at the University of Melbourne’s Department of ­Social Work, described the Closing the Gap target on out-of-home care asunrealistic “given the increasing trend of overrepresentation of Indigenous Australian children in out-of-home care”.

She also believed it was unrealistic because of systemic issues such as current practices around reunification and permanent care, which disconnect Indigenous Australian children from Indigenous family, community and culture. Lastly, she was concerned by The Australian’s report that the target was agreed to by a majority of states and territories and was therefore not unanimous.

“The lack of commitment of all Australian states and territories to support this Closing the Gap target ... will result in the target being merely symbolic and likely to fail on the ground,” she said.