Family is Culture
Media and commentary related to our work with First Nations partner organisations to implement the recommendations of the Family is Culture report and strengthen rights for First Nations families.
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2SER Breakfast: 2025 National Close the Gap Day
Solicitor and Dharug woman, Kate Sinclair discusses the productivity commission’s new report on Closing the Gap targets.
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Newcastle Herald: Aboriginal families 12 times more likely to experience child removal
The Family is Culture community report called for greater investment into peak Aboriginal bodies.
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ABC News: ‘I was never told I was in care’: The reality behind the rising number of out-of-home children
We joined AbSec, ALS and UTS Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research in calling for urgent action on child protection reforms.
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The Guardian: I worked in child protection for 13 years. Aboriginal families know what’s best for our children
Aunty Debra Swan wrote a powerful opinion piece in the Guardian about her long history fighting for Aboriginal children and what needs to happen now.
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‘Enough is enough’: Aboriginal communities take child protection reform into their own hands after years of government inaction
Reflecting on five years of inaction since the Family Is Culture Review, Aboriginal organisations are calling for urgent and meaningful reform.
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The Guardian: Aboriginal organisations call for urgent overhaul of beleaguered NSW child protection system
Five years after the landmark Family is Culture report, we joined Aboriginal organisations in saying ‘enough is enough’.
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2SER: How the NSW Government is failing Aboriginal families
Solicitor Lucy Kelley joined 2SER breakfast to discuss the recent Community Report Card assessing NSW Government implementation of the Family is Culture review recommendations.
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PIAC receives AbSec’s ‘Walking Together’ award
We were honoured to receive this award, recognising the contribution of a non-Aboriginal agency in partnership with the community.
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NSW Government must commit to Aboriginal-led reform to fix a failing child protection system
The landmark, Aboriginal-led Family is Culture (FIC) Review was commissioned by the NSW Government to improve outcomes for Aboriginal children and families. It examined in detail the increasing and disproportionate number of Aboriginal children removed by the Government into out-of-home care (OOHC) and set out a clear pathway for change. But three years after the…
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The over-representation of First Nations kids in out of home care continues to rise
The rates of removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children by government agencies into out-of-home care (OOHC) nationally continues to worsen. New figures released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reveal that Indigenous children are now 11.5 times more likely to be placed in care than their non-Indigenous counterparts. This is…
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NSW Government must back critical child-protection Bill
This week NSW MPs will have the opportunity to vote in support of critical reforms to improve the child protection system for Aboriginal children and families. After passing the Upper House in late February with the support of a broad coalition of Labor, the Greens, SFF, AJP and Fred Nile’s Christian Democratic Party, the Children…
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Child protection systems continue to fail First Nations children, most recent figures show
New statistics released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in May highlight the continuing over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection systems across Australia, and demonstrate the urgent need for reform. ‘Child protection statistics have for some time now been showing us the dramatic over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres…
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PIAC joins call for a National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
PIAC has joined the call for the establishment of a dedicated, independent, National Commissioner to advance the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children across the country, during the Family Matters National Week of Action. ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people continue to be over-policed, over-incarcerated and over-represented in out-of-home care…
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Family is Culture response falls short on structural change
The NSW Government’s response to the Family is Culture report contains a number of positive initiatives, but falls short of the significant reform needed to improve a child protection system that is failing Aboriginal families and children. Released late last year, the landmark Family Is Culture report made damning findings about the NSW child protection…
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Urgent reforms needed to protect Aboriginal children
PIAC is standing with the Aboriginal Legal Service and other Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations in calling for the NSW Government to take urgent action to address the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in the state’s child protection system. In an open letter to the Premier Gladys Berejiklian, released today, over 20 civil society organisations have urged…
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Opinion: Why we should be concerned about the NSW adoption reforms
This week, the NSW Government will seek to pass sweeping changes through Parliament that will make it easier for children to be adopted without the consent of their parents and harder for parents to have their children restored to their care after they have been removed. These changes have been promoted as enabling the Department…
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Urgent need for consultation on child protection changes to avoid dire consequences for Aboriginal children and families
The Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT (ALS) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) have joined forces to call on Members of the Legislative Council to refer a Bill amending child protection legislation for inquiry amidst concerns that the changes would have dire consequences for Aboriginal children and their families. Last week the NSW Government introduced…
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Indigenous child protection project launched
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in NSW are over 10 times more likely than non-Indigenous children to live in out-of-home care. While the long-term consequences for these children will vary widely, it’s clear that the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care has a deep and long-lasting impact on…