Kinship Carers

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:46): My question is to the Minister for Child Protection. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is providing culturally safe and responsible services, advocacy and support for Aboriginal children, young people and their carers?

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (14:46): I thank the member for Colton for his important question. Improving outcomes for children and young people is at the heart of everything we do. The Marshall Liberal government is committed to improving the outcomes for Aboriginal children and young people. Our government is dedicated to providing culturally safe and responsive services, advocacy and support for Aboriginal children and their carers.

To that effect, I am proud to inform the house that we have announced a new policy for growth in Aboriginal kinship care, a two-year pilot program to deliver specialised support services for kinship carers of Aboriginal children and young people. This program will support kinship carers to maintain connection to culture for Aboriginal children in their care. It also further embeds the Aboriginal child placement principle and reflects the good results achieved interstate that place more Aboriginal children with kin and unifies more families by working with them in a culturally respectful way.

Through the sharing of knowledge and practical skills and training, delivered by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, the program will support kinship carers to maintain connection to culture and community. This will complement the existing work of the Department for Child Protection's kinship care program and will also increase the minimum representation of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) for procurement to 6 per cent, which is well above our own target. This pilot program is another way our government is working to attain the goals of the DCP Strategic Plan 2019-22 and our Aboriginal Action Plan 2019-20. It is important that children and young people develop a sense of self identity and lifelong connections.

Kinship carers play a critical role in developing and maintaining connections with family, community and culture for Aboriginal children and young people. Nowhere is the facilitation of skills and training more important than when we are delivering better services for our children in care. The expertise of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations AFSS, KWY and InComPro will specifically allow for the facilitation of the training of carers in how to maintain these cultural connections.

It will also provide advice and help carers to understand and navigate systems, resolve issues and access services. It will help manage the impacts of intergenerational trauma for children and young people and connect them to practical supports, services and networks, such as trauma specialists, education and health services. It will also educate carers on utilising existing networks and provide specialised knowledge to connect carers to Aboriginal community and culture. Finally, a key focus of this pilot program will be to provide support to regional and remote carers.

As a government, we are doing a lot of work in this area. To name a few of our initiatives, on coming into government in 2018 we appointed April Lawrie as our first Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People. We have formed in DCP the Aboriginal Practice Directorate, led by Tracy Rigney. Through the Department of Human Services, we have an Aboriginal-specific intensive family support service that is being managed through KWY for the western suburbs. We also have family group conferencing, with a specific Aboriginal focus.

We have also set up a family scoping unit within DCP, which is Kanggarendi, which has increased the number of children in kinship care by 27 per cent since coming into government. In January, the Department for Child Protection released our Aboriginal procurement policy in order to have more of our Aboriginal community-controlled organisations provide services, and we have already doubled the state goal in that area. Last year, I launched the DCP Aboriginal Action Plan—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: No, I haven't given you the call yet.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: But the time has expired, sir.

The SPEAKER: Minister, would you be able to wrap up now, please.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON: Yes. There is still a lot more to do, Mr Speaker—

An honourable member: Time!

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. R. SANDERSON: —but I am very pleased with the work that has been achieved.