“First, they went to our kids’ school and spoke to our kids without us even knowing. They were babies, too. One had a speech impediment, and apparently, they’ve got three-page statements off both our kids, which were in preschool.”
– Parent, Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research
– Parent, BTHKTH research
As soon as the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) contacts you, or you know a report has been made:
DCJ usually find out about you and your family because someone made a risk of significant harm (ROSH) report. DCJ have a legal responsibility to investigate all reports. Some are labelled as old or untrue, but others might be labelled as lower risk. You usually won’t be told about the reports until you have a DCJ caseworker knocking on your door. Sometimes DCJ say there are lots of reports, but parents have said that this can be a tactic to scare you and it could just be a few reports on the same issue.
The main reason why there might actually be multiple reports against you, is because a DCJ caseworker was not given to your case in the beginning, because they don’t have enough caseworkers or they thought it wasn’t enough of a risk. This could mean that DCJ were not quick enough in supporting you, not that there are multiple people reporting about multiple things. Reports also shouldn’t be made about minor things, such as not having a lunch packed for school. But the reality is that this type of reporting does happen, so this could also be a reason for there being ‘lots of reports.’
The research this website is based on, found that around 40% of Aboriginal children entered out-of-home-care in NSW with only 1 or no ROSH reports that were proven to be true with evidence. This is an extremely low number of reports on a parent for DCJ to intervene. Aboriginal families experience oversurveillance and overreporting, especially to the Helpline (Audit Office, p.23).
One mum said she knew how many reports there were and what they were about because “It’s in my court reports. Yeah, because they tried to use my child protection reports against me” (Parent, Bring them home, keep them home research).
Ask DCJ the following and write down their answers:
DCJ say that most of the time they will try to ring you before they visit your home (Guide for Families, page12). They could also talk to your children, doctors, hospitals, police, teachers, or other relatives before they talk to you. There is usually a first visit to your house, which could be an initial check-in, or a safety assessment. If they are being fair and transparent, they should be organising a time with you to do the safety assessment instead of just showing up. They can talk to your children, doctors, hospitals, police, teachers or other relatives before they talk to you. Ask DCJ the following and write down their answers:
“It basically started off with someone knocking on our door, and they said that there was apparently complaints of domestic violence. We had no history of domestic violence. …then the next minute, they were saying that basically, two days later, they told us that we can’t get our kids from school.”
– Parent, Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research
DCJ is required to be transparent and honest at home visits (Standard 8, DCJ Practice Framework Standards). You have a right to ask the caseworker if they have done a cultural consultation, so they can better understand your cultural experiences and needs (Guide for Families, page 12). Everything you do, say, and even the way you look can be used against you by DCJ. This is why having an advocate speak on your behalf can be so helpful, or how they speak against you. If you have the option available to you, get an advocate as soon as you can. They can document anything negative, which could end up in a Court document. It’s the experience of other Aboriginal parents that DCJ can judge you if you show aggression or anger, but they can also judge you for showing no emotion at all.
If DCJ have contacted you and think your child is at risk, it is Aboriginal parent’s experiences that DCJ will start to ‘build a case’ against parents to remove children as soon as a ROSH report is made. To go up against this, you need to build your own evidence by recording everything both DCJ and you say and do.
DCJ are still legally allowed to remove babies from their parents in hospitals, and this is either decided by DCJ before or after a parent gives birth. It is the experience of Aboriginal mums that DCJ do not tell mothers they are planning to remove babies. DCJ and hospitals sometimes label mums as a ‘flight risk’ (mums who decide to leave the hospital) as this is DCJ’s way to justify pre- planning a removal without telling the parents or other family members. Newborn removals are extremely harmful to the family, with mothers saying they felt shock, pain, sorrow, disbelief, anxiety, guilt, shame and emptiness when their baby was taken. Physical responses also happen, because your body is made to feed your baby every few hours but you are separated from them. Parents are left to live in an ‘in-between state where their child is gone but did not die’ (Family is Culture, page 189).
“Then I gave birth to [baby], and then the next day they wanted to come into the hospital. They come into the hospital [with] TCA (temporary care arrangement) forms and then wanted me to sign over the kids for three months. I broke down. I still had a catheter in. I hopped up out of the chair, I just bawling my eyes out, screaming.”
– Parent, Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research
“I knew something was weird because we had a solicitor from Legal Aid stay there. We had a feeling. We just begged Legal Aid. We said, look, we think something’s going to happen. They’re going, no, no, it’s fine… She stayed the whole time and she goes, look, congratulations. Everything’s fine. No one’s coming… So I went home to get stuff, pretty much the same time the solicitor left, and then, that’s when FACS turned up and took the baby.”
– Parent, Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research
“Well, I thought I was [hospital removal]- they were going to do that with [baby]. But because they done a sample of his first poo and it come back clean, that was the only way I could keep him.”
– Parent, Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research
DCJ usually become aware of you and your family through a risk of significant harm report (ROSH), a child protection report. A ROSH report can be made to the Child Protection Helpline by a mandatory reporter or other people who have any involvement with your child. Reports most commonly come from schools and health services. There can also be reports on someone who is pregnant. A mandatory reporter is someone who is required by law to report if they think there is child abuse and neglect. Mandatory reporters are also told of the outcome of the report. DCJ’s website says that most of the time, if people are recorded as a person causing harm, a caseworker will tell them about it and let them know why. Any comments about it will be noted on records. Only DCJ staff can see these records.
The report goes to what is called the DCJ triage team. This is different to a local DCJ office, and they should be deciding what to do based on what they view the ‘priority’ of the case is, from the information they receive in the report or are able to access. This is what is known as ‘triage.’ They do this by using what is called a ‘Screening Response’ and ‘Priority Tool’ to see if the report on your child meets their ‘Risk of Significant Harm’ threshold. DCJ might choose to get more information, usually by talking to your family, going to your house or child’s school, or services you are involved with. The case will be closed if DCJ thinks the information gathered does not suggest your child is at risk of significant harm. But this information will stay on your record as a ROSH report made, even if it was not proven to be true (substantiated).
A ‘response’ means the triage team is deciding if they should respond, either within 24 hours, 3 days, or 10 days of the ROSH report being made. If they decide to respond, the triage team sends the report to your local DCJ office. It is here that they will decide within 28 days if they will allocate, transfer, refer or close your case.
‘Allocation’ means your ROSH report is being allocated with/to your local DCJ office, and means the creation of an ‘open case’ with DCJ. ‘Allocation’ means a caseworker has been allocated to your child from the local DCJ office, and you have an ‘open case’ with DCJ. You also might have an open case with DCJ, but they might not allocate anyone to you. DCJ might also do an interagency case discussion (ICD), with the services or professionals involved in your family’s lives (if there are any). If the report involves a crime or serious injury then the case is sent to a team called the Joint Child Protection Response Program (JCPRP), which used to be called the Joint Investigation Response Team (JIRT), which is made up of police, DCJ and NSW Health. This is because a criminal investigation is also happening at the same time as a child protection assessment. A case being sent to JCPRP is not very common.
If they do talk to your family, DCJ can still choose not to act on a report if they think there are enough supports in place or if they think the report was old or is not true, such as someone who is trying to be spiteful. DCJ might decide to refer you to a support service instead of opening up a case with DCJ. This can be a less intrusive option and is a chance to avoid DCJ’s involvement and to hopefully feel supported. You can ask DCJ for you to be referred to a support service, such as an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO).
DCJ send information to hospitals through a form called the ‘Unborn Child High Risk Birth Alert Form’ (HRBA). If you have ‘high risk indicators’ (listed below) and you don’t work with support services or are experiencing homelessness (no fixed address), then DCJ will send out the HRBA to NSW Health.
Mandatory reporters are meant to make decisions on if they make a report depending on what the Mandatory Reporters Guide says and their workplaces policies and procedures. For example, NSW Health’s policy compels a worker like a doctor or nurse to make a ROSH report if they have received a HRBA, even if they do not think that there is a reason to report you once your baby is born. If you are working with DCJ and the hospital throughout your pregnancy, it’s important to know that they are most likely talking to each other.
If you have had a prenatal report against you and it meets the ‘risk of significant harm’ threshold, then your case will be sent to your local DCJ office and there they will make the decision to either close the report, refer you to a support service, or give you a DCJ caseworker. If you are pregnant and you don’t work with support services or DCJ think the support services won’t work, then your case will stay open and when you give birth, a safety assessment will be done by DCJ. If DCJ say your unborn child is at risk of entering out-of-home-care because of concerns they have about you, then they should work with you to develop actions that will keep baby in your care. It is unlawful for DCJ to do a full risk or safety assessment of an unborn child.
The Unborn Child High Risk Birth Alert Form (HRBA) ‘high risk indicators’ are:
To see more, read the Child Wellbeing and Child Protection Policies and Procedures for NSW Health and the Birth Alerts – At Risk Unborn Babies form.
AbSec and our partners acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout NSW and their continuing connections to land, waters, and communities. We also acknowledge the lands on which these stories were told, the lands of the Dharawal, Yuin and Wonnarua people.
We acknowledge the Elders, leaders and advocates that have led the way and continue to fight for our children. We also acknowledge the Stolen Generations who never came home and the ongoing impact of government policy and practice on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families.
This website shares the experiences and advice of Aboriginal families involved in the NSW child protection system who participated in the Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research at UNSW. We acknowledge and thank the families who generously gave permission to share their stories.
These experiences reflect what worked for those families and do not constitute advice or views of AbSec. AbSec recommends seeking independent legal advice for your own circumstances.
