12/06/2020

Three Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations have been selected to deliver a new pilot service to support incoming kinship carers of Aboriginal children and young people.

Aboriginal children and young people in care have a fundamental right to grow up connected to family, community and culture - to know who they are and where they come from. Getting it right for these children is a top priority.

More than half of Aboriginal children and young people in care live with kinship carers. It is therefore important that we provide kinship carers of Aboriginal children with culturally specific support.

Recognising this, we are pleased to announce that we have selected 3 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to deliver a 2-year pilot program to support incoming carers of Aboriginal children.

These organisations are:

This pilot program recognises that Aboriginal organisations are best placed to support Aboriginal children and young people in care and is a significant step towards further embedding the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle. KWY has partnered with Lutheran Community Care and InComPro has partnered with Uniting Care Wesley Bowden to support carers.

What support will be available?

Supports offered through the program will depend on the individual kinship carer’s needs. This may include:

  • connecting carers with Aboriginal community and culture, practical supports, services and networks such as trauma specialists, education and health
  • assisting carers to manage the impacts of intergenerational trauma for children and young people in their care
  • facilitating training, including on how to maintain cultural connections
  • advocating on a carer’s behalf to resolve issues or access services
  • providing advice and helping carers to understand and navigate the child protection system.

We anticipate that the pilot program will commence within the next couple of months. To understand and manage demand, the program will initially be made available to new kinship carers of Aboriginal children. We will provide a further update about eligibility and accessing support soon.