The gap's getting wider
The Queensland Council of Social Service is frustrated that the Queensland government is still failing to respond properly to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who are being taken into the child protection system.
“Today the Child Guardian released a report that says that the number of Indigenous children being taken into care increased by 20% in just one year,’ says QCOSS Director Jill Lang. “Only 5 of every 1000 non Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is the subject of a child protection order. But for Aboriginal children the figure is 32 of every 1000 children.”
“The child protection system is going backwards and failing a whole generation of Indigenous people in Queensland. Five years ago, the CMC inquiry into foster care made 13 recommendations to improve the child protection system for Indigenous children and young people,” says Jill.
“Even before this report we knew that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were three times more likely to be the subject of a child protection notification. Now they are six to seven times more likely to come under a formal child protection order or to be removed from their home.
“And the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children not living with their family or community has tripled in the last five years,” says Jill.
“We are completely confounded as to why the government has failed in this area,” says QCOSS President Karyn Walsh.
QCOSS joins a number of other voices from the community services industry in calling for immediate action on two fronts.
“Firstly, we call upon the government to address the underlying causes of the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system.
“And secondly we call upon the government to take immediate steps to reduce this over-representation,” says Karyn.
“At the heart of it is fairness. Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children must have access to the same life chances as other children,” says Karyn.
For 50 years QCOSS has strived to promote social justice through working to eliminate inequality and disadvantage. The Queensland Council of Social Service represents 600 organisations and individuals throughout the state.
