Family is Culture

Aboriginal children belong with their families and communities, connected to culture and Country.

But too many Aboriginal families are torn apart by a child protection system that perpetuates injustice and discrimination.

We work in partnership with AbSec – NSW Child, Family and Community Peak Aboriginal Corporation, the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) and UTS Jumbunna Institute, to drive much-needed reform of the NSW child protection system.

While Aboriginal people make up less than 4% of the population in NSW, in June 2023 nearly 46% of children in out of home care were Aboriginal. Aboriginal kids are 11 times more likely to be removed from their families than non-Indigenous children. This disproportion continues to increase, year on year.

The Aboriginal-led Family is Culture Review provided a roadmap for transforming the system.  Achieving full implementation of the FIC Review’s recommendations continues to be our focus. The recommendations place self-determination and accountability to community at the heart of child protection decision-making. To date, implementation of the Review’s 126 recommendations has been disappointingly and unjustifiably slow.

A strong, supported family is the best place for every child to grow up. Our work urges the NSW Government to honour its commitments to ‘Closing the Gap’, respect the expertise of Aboriginal families in raising strong, healthy and resilient children, and form genuine partnerships with Aboriginal communities to keep kids safe and at home.