Keeping Aboriginal children with their families

The national Closing the Gap target is to reduce the rate of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care.  The rate is the number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care for every 1,000 Aboriginal children in the population. 

The national target compares our progress to 2019, when the targets were first set. 

A number of factors change how we measure our progress, for example, children and young people leaving care, turning 18, moving out of NSW or being placed in custody. 

Explore the Aboriginal-led Data Sharing interactive dashboard.

See more about our progress towards Closing the Gap.

Find data about your community with the Data Connector Service.

DCJ is working with Aboriginal families and communities to give children and their families access to early and culturally safe support.

• Aboriginal Child and Family Centres give culturally safe help to Aboriginal families with children aged 8 and under. They can give parents and children a range of supports to keep families strong.
• Safeguarding Decision Making for Aboriginal Children Panels are now involved in decisions about children in the child protection system. The panels include senior DCJ staff, Aboriginal organisations and other child protection organisations all have Aboriginal people on them, and they are designed to make sure decisions are informed by diverse knowledge and experiences.
• The Targeted Earlier Intervention program helps children, families and communities to reduce the chance of contact with the child protection system. The program is designed for each local community depending on its needs.
• Family Preservation is a service that helps with parenting skills, family functioning and child development. They also provide therapeutic support to address the trauma that children often experience in the child protection system.
• DCJ has heard concerns from Aboriginal organisations and communities about the way DCJ assesses the safety of Aboriginal children. In response to this, in 2024 we stopped using an assessment tool called Structured Decision Making which had cultural bias. We’re working with Aboriginal partners to develop a more culturally safe approach and improve the way we assess safety. 

Because Aboriginal children and families are overrepresented in the child protection system, Aboriginal perspectives, experiences, and views must lead all of our work. 

• Aboriginal Community Controlled Mechanisms are community groups that make sure local child protection work is culturally appropriate. This allows Aboriginal communities to look out for the needs of Aboriginal children and families.
• Aboriginal Family Led Decision Making is a process that makes families an important part of decisions in the child protection system. It makes sure that caseworkers respect families as experts on their own lives.
• Aboriginal Family Led Assessments are about caseworkers using a cultural lens when making decisions. Caseworkers must work to understand the perspectives of the child, their family and community.

We are working to reduce the number of children in out-of-home care by making it a priority to keep children with their parents.

In 2023, new laws started that make it a requirement for caseworkers to make Active Efforts to prevent children from entering care. They must give families the support they need, rather than expecting them to make changes on their own.

For children in care, caseworkers must make Active Efforts to restore them to their parents, or if that is not possible, place them with family, kin or community.

Caseworkers should involve the extended family, community, social service providers and care givers in their work to keep children at home. Learn more about Active Efforts.

We are working to make sure Aboriginal children who are placed in out-of-home care receive culturally safe support to stay connected with their kin, Country and culture.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principles (ATSICPP) are guidelines that make sure Aboriginal children in care and their carers are supported by Aboriginal owned organisations. We are in the process of making this change for all Aboriginal young people in care. Aboriginal owned organisations are able to facilitate cultural connection and give carers cultural capability training.  

All Aboriginal children in care are given a Cultural Support Plan to help them stay connected to their cultural identity. They are developed with family, significant people in their lives and cultural knowledge holders.

We try to help children return to their family as soon as they enter care. We work with children, their family and community to create a safe environment. One of our priorities is building a strong partnership between caseworkers, children, parents and their families.  

Restoring Aboriginal Children

We are committed to increasing restoration of Aboriginal children to get them safely back to family. Currently work is underway with Associate Professor Dr BJ Newton, AbSec and other partners to scope and develop a restoration model for Aboriginal children.

The Winha-nga-nha List is a new process for Aboriginal families who have court matters about child safety and protection. It dedicates more time to listening, talking and thinking about what is important for the children to better engage families in the court proceedings. It's currently running in Dubbo.

Our Family Time program helps children and their families reconnect. It links Aboriginal families to Aboriginal family time workers to make family time safe, enjoyable and constructive. It aims to work towards children returning home.