Page 272 - Week 01 - Thursday, 13 February 2020
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committee, particularly the chair, Barbara Causon, for the dedication and expertise they have contributed to the review over the past two years.
I would also like to acknowledge the work of the project team, who reviewed case files for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children connected to the child protection system as at 31 December 2017. The team, led by skilled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with experience in child protection, has consulted broadly with the community as well as reviewing the 307 case files.
The steering committee and project team have worked through the case files of some of the most vulnerable children in our community and spoken with families who have distressing life stories. This is difficult and emotionally challenging work and I acknowledge their resilience and the ongoing cultural load they have carried through this process.
Finally, I thank the children, families, carers and community members who have shared their experiences of the child protection system with the committee. I want to acknowledge their bravery and their contribution to shaping the future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families in Canberra.
The report makes clear that the work it calls for is urgent. As Ms Causon says in her foreword, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community not only expects change but is ready to continue leading it.
The report really gets to the detail of what is not working, what needs to change. But it also speaks to better practice: what is working that we can build on. This is vital to give people confidence that there is hope and that change is possible.
The report contains many quotes from people with lived experience of the system that speak to both the challenges and the changes we need to see in very clear terms.
From a parent:
No-one told us what we needed to do to get the kids back.
From a carer:
It is kind of like a football rotation round where there is one team—
CYPS—
who know all the rules … and every other team is running around training themselves, never been given the rule book, only comes to play one match ever.
From another parent, though:
When CYPS came into my home and yard and told me they could see how much I had done … I was very proud of that, how hard I had been working.
That was the first time I had been given a compliment about anything I had been trying to do and it meant a lot. When the CYPS worker believed me it made a huge difference.
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