The way present legislation responds ... is merely allowing Aboriginal community organisations to become part of the process ... There is no support for the development of genuine Indigenous child care or child welfare as, for instance, there has been in the United States under the jurisdiction of the Indian Child Welfare Act (Nigel D'Souza, SNAICC, evidence 309).
Indigenous children throughout Australia remain very significantly over-represented `in care' and in contact with welfare authorities. Their over-representation increases as the intervention becomes more coercive, with the greatest over-representation being in out-of-home care. Indigenous children appear to be particularly over-represented in long-term foster care arrangements. A high percentage of Indigenous children in long-term foster care live with non-Indigenous carers.
The following table provides an overview of the over-representation of Indigenous children in substitute care in 1993. The highest rate of placement for Indigenous children was in Victoria and the lowest was in the NT. On average Indigenous children were seven times more likely to be in substitute care than their population share would indicate. Indigenous children comprise only 2.7% of Australian children but they were 20% of children in care in 1993.
| ACT |
NSW |
NT |
Qld |
SA |
Tas |
Vic |
WA |
Total |
|
| Total children in care |
135 |
4,694 |
123 |
2,112 |
1,195 |
498 |
2,504 |
1,102 |
12,363 |
| Indigenous children in care |
12b |
829 |
52 |
615 |
293 |
55 |
300c |
353 |
2,419 |
| % Indigenous children in care |
8.9 |
17.7 |
42.3 |
29.1 |
17.0 |
11.0 |
12.0 |
34.9 |
19.6 |
| % child population who are Indigenousa
|
1.0 |
2.1 |
33.7 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
3.5 |
0.7 |
4.3 |
2.7 |
| Indigenous children in care per 1, 000 aged 0-17
years |
15 |
26 |
3 |
19 |
28 |
13 |
40 |
18 |
20 |
| Non-Indigenous children in care per 1,000 aged
10-17 years |
1.6 |
3.0 |
2.3 |
2.6 |
3.3 |
3.9 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
2.7 |
a Figures for the Indigenous child population in each State are taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (1993b 1991 Census of Population and Housing, Aboriginal Community Profile ABS Cat. No. 2722.0). The Aboriginal out-of-home care and census figures could well be underestimates because of missing information in both of these counts. For example, no information was available on Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal status for 19.5% of the NSW population of children under care orders.
b Estimated from the percentage of children referred to care by the statutory agency.
c The Victorian Department estimates that there are approximately 300 Aboriginal children in specialised, Aboriginal managed out-of-home care programs, with the possibility of `some others' with other agencies.
Indigenous children are much more likely than others to be `notified' to a welfare department on the ground of abuse or neglect as the following table shows.
(number per 1,000 children)
| NSW |
Vic |
Qld |
WA |
SA |
Tas |
ACTa |
NT |
|||
| Notifications |
||||||||||
| Indigenous children |
55 |
90 |
42 |
28 |
62 |
27 |
104 |
10 |
||
| All children |
16 |
22 |
14 |
7 |
18 |
19 |
15 |
9 |
||
| Finalised investigations |
||||||||||
| Indigenous children |
48 |
61 |
34 |
22 |
51 |
12 |
85 |
10 |
||
| All children |
14 |
12 |
10 |
5 |
14 |
9 |
11 |
5 |
||
| Substantiations |
||||||||||
| Indigenous children |
30 |
32 |
15 |
9 |
25 |
3 |
48 |
6 |
||
| All children |
8 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
||
| Care and protection orders, 30/6/96 |
||||||||||
| Indigenous children |
17 |
16 |
19 |
8 |
na |
8 |
26 |
2 |
||
| All children |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
na |
3 |
3 |
2 |
Source: Government Service Provision 1997 Table 10.1 page 536.
a The ACT rates are over-estimated due to the method of calculating the Indigenous population of the Territory.
Note: The table does not indicate what proportion of the children were in substitute care.
Indigenous children are more likely than non-Indigenous children to be removed on the ground of `neglect' rather than `abuse'. The graphs below contrast the proportions of Indigenous children and all children on care and protection orders nationally in 1992-93 on the grounds of neglect, sexual assault, emotional abuse and physical abuse. Substantiated cases of neglect constituted 40% of all cases for Indigenous children compared with 23% for all children.
There is broad agreement among commentators, State and Territory government departments and Indigenous organisations that Indigenous children who must be removed from their families in their best interests are best cared for within an Indigenous cultural environment. There is also broad agreement that Indigenous people have a right to look after their own children and thereby sustain their own culture. This right is expressed by most Indigenous organisations as a right to self-determination and is variously expressed by government departments as either a right to self-determination or a right to self-management. In spite of this, Indigenous children continue to be removed from their families at a disproportionate rate and continue to be placed into non-Indigenous environments including group homes and foster families (Gilbert 1993, Thomas 1994, Dingwall et al 1983).
| Emotional |
20% |
| Sexual |
14% |
| Physical |
26% |
| Neglect |
40% |
| Emotional |
25% |
| Sexual |
23% |
| Physical |
29% |
| Neglect |
23% |
Source: Angus and Zabar 1995 based on 1992-93 figures provided to WELSTAT
There is also a general recognition that the underlying causes of the over-representation of Indigenous children in welfare systems include the inter-generational effects of previous separations from family and culture, poor socio-economic status and systemic racism in the broader society. These causes combine to produce cultural differences between welfare departments and Indigenous communities, substance abuse, violence, poor nutrition, alienation from social institutions including the education system, family services and the criminal justice system, limited and poor housing options and a loss of hope, particularly among younger people.
In this chapter we evaluate the role of government welfare departments and children's care and protection legislation in the continuing separation of Indigenous children from their families and communities and in addressing the underlying issues identified.
