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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-05-14 Daily Xml
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Aboriginal Children and Young People in Care

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:19): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Human Services a question about Aboriginal children and young people in care.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: The latest annual report highlighting the state of Aboriginal children in care and in youth justice was released yesterday by the Office of the Guardian for Children and Young People, Penny Wright. It revealed that, despite Aboriginal people and young people making up only 5 per cent of the state's total population of children and young people, they make up 34.2 per cent of children and young people in care services. Just to break that down further, more than one in three children in care in this state are Indigenous. Worse still is the over-representation of Aboriginal youths in detention.

In 2018-19, Aboriginal children and young people made up a daily average of 60.7 per cent of all young people in detention in SA, despite Aboriginal children being detained at the lowest rates since 2014-15. Disturbingly, Aboriginal children and young people are 32 times more likely to be in detention than non-Aboriginal children and young people in South Australia. If members haven't done so, I urge them to read this sobering report. My questions to the minister are:

1. Are you concerned at the revelations in the Guardian for Children and Young People's Annual Report?

2. What is the government doing to tackle the totally unacceptable and disproportionate number of Aboriginal children and young people in care?

3. Do you agree the significant overlap of Aboriginal children and young people across these two systems requires strong and decisive policy decisions that address both intergenerational trauma and entrenched disadvantage?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:21): I thank the honourable member for her question. I would have to say, yes, I agree with all of the concerns that are expressed both through the report and in the content of her question. In relation to this particular report that has been released, it does highlight the continuing over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in detention in South Australia—it is unacceptably high. If we look at some of the silver lining, we are pleased to note that in 2018-19 the rate of detention-based youth justice services for Aboriginal children and young people was lower than the national average and has declined to its lowest rate in five years. This is a significant achievement and a trend which we are continuing to work through.

The Department of Human Services continues to address the over-representation of Aboriginal young people as an ongoing area of focus, in particular partnering with other agencies to support Aboriginal young people to connect to culture and community and to have meaningful pathways into education and employment. The Department of Human Services also works closely with the Department for Child Protection to support Aboriginal young people who are dual clients.

In relation to specific matters, the honourable member referred to generational issues. I think I have spoken in this place previously in relation to the child and family services through the Department of Human Services and that we have engaged in a detailed codesign process with the sector and as we are reforming those services into the future the tenders going forward—which may have been released; I think they are actually open—we made a very specific decision through those consultations that we would actually ring-fence some 30 per cent of that funding to be provided to Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.

We also expect to fairly shortly release a youth justice action plan that has been under the working title of 'Young People Connected. Communities Protected.', which has been through extensive consultation and focuses on six service design themes: Aboriginal cultural connection; connected services; young people's wellbeing; reconnection with community; workforce stability and investment; and business intelligence, which refers to evidence-based programs and data.

In addition to that, I think it is important to note that there are some community-based programs that the government has continued to invest in, including Tiraapendi Wodli, which is a community service. We have two pilots that are operating: one in the north, which is a pilot with Anglicare that I think has a fairly significant Aboriginal component, and in the west that would be just in the process of commencing with Kornar Winmil Yunti (KWY). So there is a very strong focus on these exact issues to which the honourable member is referring, and it is a very strong desire that these trends will continue downwards into the future.

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