2024-08-05
Today’s damning report from the Advocate for Children and Young People is just the latest in decades of damning reports into the New South Wales out-of-home-care system.
The report follows, and supports the recommendations of:
Family is Culture: Independent Review of Aboriginal Children and Young People in Out-of-Home Care 2019, by Megan Davis
The Voices of Children and Young People in Out-of-Home Care 2021, by the ACYP
Oversight of the child protection system (Oversight Report), released by the Auditor General in June this year, and
Safeguarding the rights of Aboriginal children in the child protection system, also released by the Auditor General in June this year.
The release of the interim report in May triggered a systems review of out-of-home care arrangements in New South Wales by the Minister. The final report is due to be released in late October.
Greens MP and spokesperson for Youth Justice Sue Higginson said “This report bluntly acknowledges that the damage caused by alternative care arrangements in NSW is an old, tragic and open secret,”
“We now have a dozen reviews and reports that paint a horrifying picture. This system is a machine that splits families, grinds down good foster carers and funnels public money to for-profit companies that are actively harming children,”
“The recommendations are clear, the Minns Government must immediately invest in early and genuine family support and stable, permanent and culturally appropriate out-of-home care,”
“The only way out of this crisis is to invest in families and communities to ensure they can care for kids in the way that every parent wishes and every child deserves,”
“The Minister has a legal duty of care and, I know, a deep personal commitment to each and every child and young person in out-of-home care. She must take back control,” Ms Higginson said.