Delivering the best possible outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families is one of the Queensland Government’s highest priorities.
To achieve this, the government in partnership with Family Matters Queensland and community organisations has released Our Way: A generational strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families .
Guided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, Our Way outlines our approach, across 20 years, to work differently together to improve life opportunities for our state’s vulnerable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. A key commitment in Supporting Families Changing Futures, Our Way represents a fundamental shift in how child protection, family support and other services work with, and for, Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
Changing Tracks: an action plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Families 2017-2019 (PDF, 4.3 MB) and 2020-2022 (PDF, 4.9 MB) 2020-2022 (DOCX, 4.3 MB) set the foundation for change focusing on the systems and policy settings required to achieve the Our Way vision
The key priorities of Changing Tracks: an action plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Families 2020-2022 (PDF, 4.9 MB) (DOCX, 4.3 MB) include:
We have developed an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child and Family Wellbeing Outcomes Framework Wellbeing Outcomes Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people (PDF, 179 KB) in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, communities and organisations as part of the first action plan. The accompanying Wellbeing Outcomes Framework Report will be published shortly.
This is a whole-of-government and cross-sectoral tool to identify outcomes, indicators and measures to inform investment decisions, align efforts and help track progress.
The department will also report additional measures on the level of representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in the child protection system for each of the Changing Tracks priority areas (see Tables below). These measures will be refined and added to over time.
Children aged 0 to 2 subject to an intake for the first time, by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Queensland, 2015-16 to 2019-20
Proportion of children subject to ongoing intervention who are subject to Intervention with Parental Agreement, by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Queensland, as at 30 June 2016 to 30 June 2020
Description | Annual | Quarterly |
---|---|---|
IAP.1: Children aged 0 to 2 subject to an intake, and whether subject to an intake for the first time, by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
IAP.2: Children aged 2 to 5 subject to an intake, and whether subject to an intake for the first time, by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
IAP.3: Children aged 0 to 2 subject to a substantiation and whether the child was in need of protection, by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
IAP.4: Children subject to ongoing intervention, by type and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
IAP.5: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to ongoing intervention with a cultural support plan, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
IAP.6: Children living away from home and subject to a child protection order with a Child Health Passport, by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
IAP.7: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living away from home placed with kin, other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residential care services, by region, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
IAP.8: Children aged 15 years and over subject to a child protection order granting custody / guardianship to the Chief Executive with transition to independence planning, by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
Changing Tracks: An action plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families (PDF) and Changing Tracks: an action plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Families 2020-2022 (PDF, 4.9 MB) (DOCX, 4.3 MB) recognise that now is the time that we — government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, children and families and support services — need to ‘change tracks’ if we are going to reach our generational vision under Our Way: A generational strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families .
This action plan sets the foundations for change and will put us on a new track to ensure all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in Queensland grow up safe and cared for in family, community and culture.
The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to an intake increased by 32.9 per cent from 13,925 children in 2015-16 to 18,511 children in 2019-20. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people comprised 24.3 per cent of all children subject to an intake in 2019-20.
In 2019-20, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to a notification was 7,826, an increase of 34.2 per cent compared with 2015-16 (5,832). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people comprised 33.6 per cent of all children subject to a notification in 2019-20.
Between 2015-16 and 2019-20 the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to a substantiation increased by 26.0 per cent (from 1,925 in 2015-16 to 2,425 in 2019-20). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people comprised 37.0 per cent of all children subject to a substantiation in 2019-20.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are significantly more likely to be living away from home than non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. As a rate per 1,000 children aged 0 to 17 years, 51.4 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were living away from home, compared with 5.9 for non-Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children as at 30 June 2020. The higher rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children has been a consistent trend over the last five years.
The demand for placements for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children continues to exceed the supply of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers. As at 30 June 2020 there was 1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carer family for every 4.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in home-based care. By contrast, there was 1 non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carer family for every 1.1 non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in home-based care.
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