Child protection, education and health services are failing to provide culturally safe responses to First Nations children experiencing domestic and family violence, according to a new ANROWS report.
Across Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are vastly over-represented in child protection services. The research found that these current systems are often disciplinary in approach and create further harm for young people.
The report, You Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup, is an initiative by Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP) in partnership with ANROWS and Australian Catholic University (ACU).
One community researcher said that current child protection systems fail to respond in healing-focused ways that recognise and respond to the unique trauma that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience.
As the first of its kind in Australia, the research project engaged 8 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community research teams across regional and remote Queensland.
It was led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chief investigators in a collaborative process to elevate First Nations voices and find community-led solutions for healing and recovery.
Results showed First Nations people have been left out of decision-making, with devastating consequences. This has led to the creation of the Healing our children and young people framework, a culturally safe, place-based, trauma-aware, healing informed, children-centred approach to engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experiencing family and domestic violence.
CEO of ANROWS, Padma Raman PSM, encouraged policymakers and practitioners across the service system to consider the findings and urgently adopt the report’s framework.
“Existing approaches and systems are causing significant harm to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who have experienced domestic and family violence,” said Raman.
“The proposed community-led framework, the first of its kind in Australia, is an exceptional tool for anyone in the child protection and domestic and family violence space.”
According to the community researcher, some youth justice programs have also been “lacking cultural capability and missing the opportunity to address underlying causes.”
“They think they know what they’re doing for our kids, but they don’t have any healing component,” said the community researcher. “They aren’t run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
CEO of QATSCIPP, Garth Morgan added to calls for the frameworks use, saying it “values culture as strength and recognises that our communities not only hold the solutions to healing our children but their connections to culture and country is vital in leading this response.”
Alongside the framework, the report provides a series of recommendations and solutions, including increased investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, access to housing and brokerage funds and investment in cultural competency and DFV awareness across systems.