Report data shows that almost one in ten Aboriginal children in NSW were subject to a “Risk of Serious Harm” ROSH report before they were born. familyisculture.nsw.gov.au
Only half of the children who were still in care when we did our review lived with Aboriginal carers.
Over 40% of dads, and two thirds of mums who had kids in our cohort had a child protection history in NSW. A quarter of mums had previously been in OOHC themselves.
The review made 3432 recommendations on the individual case files of kids in OOHC. The department has never indicated how many of these recommendations have been actioned or what has happened to these kids and their families.
In the vast majority of cases when Aboriginal kids were removed from their family, the department’s plan did not identify restoration as a possibility. The decision to oppose restoration was usually made well within 6 months of the removal.
After submitting a 500+ page report to the Minister, the review received a several page reply over 6 months later, that did not address any of the reforms aimed at fixing the power imbalance between caseworkers and Aboriginal families.
The review found that the child protection system is a closed system that operates largely out of the public eye and with very little oversight. Gov response indicates that recs around accountability and transparency have been largely ignored.
