Commissioner visits Broome for State care forum

The WA Commissioner for Children and Young People will visit Broome this week to attend a forum addressing the over-representation of Aboriginal children in State care.

Colin Pettit will be among a host of representatives appearing at the Kimberley Aboriginal Children and Care Communities meeting, organised by Aarnja, the Broome-based regional body for Kimberley Aboriginal people.

Aarnja chief executive David Wirken said the two-day event was co-ordinated in response to former Child Protection Minister Helen Morton’s call last August for a community response to the over-representation of Aboriginal children in State care.

The forum will bring together key Aboriginal organisations, government and not-for-profit agencies to explore early intervention prevention strategies and policies to empower local people and families.

According to the Kimberley Aboriginal Children in Care Committee’s 2015 report, Aboriginal youths in Western Australia represented nearly 50 per cent of all children in care, despite accounting for only five per cent of children and young people across the State.

KACCC was formed as a working group by Aboriginal leaders in the region last October to identify the gaps in the WA child protection system.

The report said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander placement between 2003 and 2013 had more than doubled, and the number of Aboriginal children in care was increasing at a higher rate in regional areas than metropolitan.

Mr Worken said the aim of the meeting was to produce a series of short, medium and long-term solutions and recommendations in line with current service strengths and gaps.

He said other outcomes that were hoped to result from the forum include an improved understanding of existing strengths within Kimberley Aboriginal family networks with focus on building on those strengths, and Aboriginal-led, grassroots practical solutions to tackle the issue.