The Child Placement Principle

The overarching principle is the safety and well-being of children are the paramount consideration and that where parents are unable to provide safe care of their children, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle governs all decisions and actions taken to secure their safety and provide appropriate care and support.  

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Child Placement Principle Policy Statement developed in partnership by the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies and the Queenslander Government, is the cornerstone policy for community and government to work together to keep Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children safe and connected to their identity.  The Partnership is committed to ensuring the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle is adhered to by the Recognised Entities and the Department of Child Safety.

It is well documented and acknowledged in major Inquiries such as RCIADIC(1989) and Bringing Them Home (1995), that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have a need for, and a right to know of their own families and culture, and that denial of this has tragic consequences. Denial of identity and culture have been linked to high rates of drug and alcohol abuse, suicide rates, and over representation in child welfare and corrections systems.

The separation of children from their families over many generations has left a legacy of grief, sadness and loss of identity and culture for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The traditions of group parental control, extended family involvement in child rearing and discipline of children were undermined.

The purpose of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle is to preserve and enhance Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children’s sense of identity as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander through maintaining children within their own family, community and culture. It seeks to strengthen family life through recognising the value of the extended family, kinship arrangements, culture and community in raising children.

The Principle establishes the policy that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community representatives must be involved and consulted at all stages of decision making in child and family welfare matters concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children placed in alternative care for protective reasons should be placed with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander care providers.

It also aims to support increased involvement and control by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in child and family welfare matters effecting communities.

The Principle was always intended to:

• Protect the rights of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children recognising the intrinsic connection of the extended family;
• Reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children on protective orders;
• Strengthen families to prevent and reduce disintegration of the family unit;
• Ensure that if children are removed from biological parents, that they are placed with extended family within the immediate and/or  broader Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander community
• Ensure that if Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children are removed contact is maintained with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities;
• Ensure that if Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children are removed commitment to reunification is of the highest priority
• Best Interests of the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander child must include consideration of the whole of life well-being.