Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that the Family Matters Report 2019 found that:

  (i) First Nations children are now 10 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children, which is an all-time high,

  (ii) the number of First Nations children in out-of-home care will more than double in size in the next 10 years without urgent action, and

  (iii) almost 1 in 3 First Nations peoples are living in poverty, and this contributes to the over-representation of First Nations children in out-of-home care; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to implement the key recommendations of this report, including to:

  (i) develop a national comprehensive First Nations children's strategy that includes generational targets to eliminate over-representation, and addresses the causes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child removal,

  (ii) invest in quality First Nations community-controlled integrated early years services through a specific program with targets to increase coverage in areas of high First Nations peoples population and high levels of disadvantage,

  (iii) establish state-based and national First Nations children's commissioners to enable improved government accountability and oversight, and

  (iv) end legal orders for permanent care and adoption for First Nations children, replaced by a focus on supporting their connections to kin, culture and community.

Question agreed to.