“They were originally supposed to go to my mum. But because my stepfather wouldn’t do his police check, never happened. My sister has her own kids, so they never even bothered there.”
– Parent, Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research
– Parent, BTHKTH research
This is when a child lives with and is cared for by a relative other than their parent, or a member of their Aboriginal community, and your child’s relationship and connection this person is recognised by your child’s family and Community. This is often referred to as kincare. This is different to a Family Arrangement, because Kinship or Relative care goes through the Court system. If DCJ has decided to remove a child, this is the next best type of care, and they are legally required to try and make this happen.
It’s important to advocate for this because often DCJ will ignore placement principles, skip finding family members, and place the kids with foster carers, even though they are not meant to. You can remind your DCJ caseworker of their legal responsibility to follow the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child and Young Person Placement Principles (section 13 of the Care Act). You can also remind DCJ of their responsibility to follow section 12 of the Care Act which states that DCJ are required to include Aboriginal family and community members to be involved in decision making processes, and their responsibility to follow the ACMP, which says decisions should be led by Aboriginal family (AFLDM).
The Court has to firstly consider if your child’s relative or kin caring for your child can be legally responsible for decision making and be allocated (given) parental responsibility, or whether they stay authorised under an order of parental responsibility to the Minister (following the hierarchy of orders (found in section 10A of the Care Act). DCJ will often make a recommendation which one they think is the better option in the care plan they file for your child. But kin carers should consider their own legal advice about if they want Parental Responsibility themselves. Often financial support is a big thing family member’s have to think about.
DCJ workers are required to follow the Care Act. Over half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are still being placed with a non-Aboriginal carers (AIHW, 2022), even though this is meant to be the last placement option. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child and Young Person Placement Principle (section 13(1) of the Care Act) says Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children should be placed in out- of- home- care (OOHC) in this order:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, communities, and representative organisations must be given a chance, through ways approved by the Minister, to be involved in decisions about where their children are placed and other important decisions about their children under this law.
DCJ are required to support a child or young person to maintain connections to family, community, culture and Country (section 13 of the Care Act). DCJ need to “prioritise and value children’s sustained and meaningful connections to network members. Recognise that their safety, healing and life outcomes are often reflected by the quality of their relationships to others” (Standard 5.1 DCJ Practice Framework Standards).
DCJ are required to do what is called ‘Family Finding’. This is when DCJ do all that they possibly can to find family members to care for your child, if they don’t already know them. DCJ needs to have evidence that they followed the Aboriginal placement principles with all efforts to identify and locate family and kin recorded in the care plan, case plan, and placement record (Standard 2.1 DCJ Practice Framework Standards) ).
DCJ has to show that they have made effort to place your child and their siblings with family members (Standard 5 DCJ Practice Framework Standards).
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.
