Child Protection in Australia - Assignment Example

? Child Protection in Australia Child protection is increasingly becoming a major concern in Australia today due to the increasing cases of alleged child neglect, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse (Tilburry, 2012); child protection interventions are aimed at providing the child with a safe, secure, and caring environment that allows for optimum growth and development. In Australia alone, over 31000 cases of alleged child abuse and neglect were reported in Queensland between 2002 and 2003 (CMC, 2004); although aboriginal children and young people comprise only about 4% of the population in New South Wales, they add up to over 29% of children and young people in Out-of-Home-Care (Berlyn, Bromfield and Lamont, 2011). This brings us to the issue of over-representation of the indigenous people in areas such as welfare systems, child protection systems, homelessness, health systems, juvenile and criminal justice systems, among others (Nsw, 2009). Historical practices, events that took place at the time of first contact onwards, have a crucial link to the issues such as over-representation of the indigenous people affecting Indigenous Australians today. This paper aims at addressing the historical and more recent ideologies, government policies and welfare practices that have shaped the current situation- over-representation of the indigenous people, and recommendations for improved principles of practice relevant to working with Indigenous peoples and interdisciplinary services in the context of your current situation and future practice. Firstly, past government legislation and practices that have been operational in Australia such as assimilation policies have contributed largely to the sensitive issues affecting aboriginal people today and the resultant intergenerational impacts such as suffering, abuse and neglect of children in Australia. Until 1969, aboriginal children were forcefully removed from their families and communities as the official Australian government policy, and this resulted to the lost generation in Australia. The white settlement policy on the Aboriginal people led to devastating feelings of loss and grief whose impact is still felt up to date in the form of a cyclical and inter-generational destruction path (Aihw, 2013). For instance, grief and loss issues oftentimes result in suicidal feelings among the youth, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, overrepresentation in welfare and juvenile criminal justice systems, among other things. The assimilation policies were meant to displace, protect, disperse, convert and eventually assimilate the indigenous Australian populations, thus giving rise to the lost generation whose cultural roots had been cut thus a subsequent loss of identity. Apart from the assimilation policy, oppressive legislation is part of the historical injustices perpetrated against the indigenous people thus leading to the current situation of overrepresentation of the Aboriginal people. Most of the interventions by the Australian states and territories towards the Aboriginal populations were inform of punitive and restrictive legislations and policies (Dudgeon Pat et al, n.d). For instance, such acts include “Aborigines Protection Act of 1909 in New South Wales, Australia, the Queensland Aboriginals Protection, and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act of 1897, and the Welfare Ordinance of 1901. These acts of legislation were intended to mutilate the culture of the Aboriginals through loss of language, family dispersion, and cessation of cultural practices. The Western Australian Act of 1905 is perhaps the most notorious piece of legislation because of its gross erosion of rights of the Aboriginal persons; for instance, the Western Australian Act resulted to forceful removal of children from their families, natural environments, and the establishment of reserves for Aboriginal persons. The Western Australian Aborigines Act of 1905 gave the Chief Protector of the Aborigines the legal guardian of indigenous persons and half-caste children in Australia; police constables and pastoralists were delegated powers as protectors of the Aboriginals at the local levels. All half-caste children were cut-off from the corrupting influences of their Aboriginal family backgrounds to allow them a better life; missions were established to host the children away from their families and communities in the reserves. The chief protector was legally equipped to remove aboriginal children from their reserves to different reserves and because Aboriginal people were considered inferior, they were not allowed admission into towns without permission. Other legislations that have inevitably shaped the historical development of the current situation include the Native Administration Act of 1936 that that gave the state absolute rights over the Aboriginal populations. Cultural racism is yet another historical issue that has greatly influenced the lives of the indigenous Australians thus giving rise to the pervasiveness of the present situation of the overrepresentation of the Indigenous Australian children. Traces of cultural racism exist in the historical development of Australia and up to date, one can still find evidences of cultural racism in both individuals and institutions. Today, cultural racism has become progressively less blatant and overt but more subtle and covert, with more damaging influences on the indigenous persons who are the target victims of racism. Institutionalized racism in Australia today is manifest in the institutions power to develop, sustain, and enforce specific racial views of people through established societal systems of education, economy, justice and health care, among others. These systems in Australia are applied to the disadvantage of the indigenous persons; institutionalized racism results to high rates of socio-economic disparities, high rates of arrests and imprisonment, and low life expectancy, among other gross impacts. Racism is still a crucial reality in Australia today, despite the considerable changes in Australian society-it is invasive, pervasive, and unrelenting; for instance, 30 % of indigenous people in Australia reported having been discriminated on the basis of their race in a 2001 survey. Overall, the causes of overrepresentation because of the historical developments are both general- affecting the lives of the indigenous populations, and specific to the child welfare systems. The social-economic impacts of colonization such as land dispossession, displacement, family dispersion, institutional care, and racism are the underlining reasons for overrepresentation of indigenous people in welfare systems (Combined Voices, 2010). Clearly, indigenous children are more likely to end up in child protection care systems because of the state intervention and child welfare policies that rely more on child removal than family support. This is attributable to the effects of the cumulative generational disadvantage of the indigenous people that constrains their access to things such as health, education; evidently, indigenous people are highly susceptible to imprisonment and homelessness, which reflects generations of disadvantage. Micro level factors that result to further overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in child welfare system are the biases and inconsistencies in decisions made by the reporters-police, nurses or teachers, and those assessing these reports. For instance, differences in child rearing like more laissez-faire supervision may be viewed as deficits and institutional racism and/or system biases such as lack of cross-cultural competence, cultural appropriate service delivery lead to overrepresentation. In addition to that, the discriminatory practice of child welfare workers and the indigenous people’s probable lack of legal representation in removal and placement decisions is also responsible for the souring cases of overrepresentation. In recognition of the devastating effects of removing children from their families and communities, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community established the child Placement principle in the 1970s, to protect the right of children removed from their families and placed in statutory care (Adams, 2011). Over time, many states in Australia have today embraced the Child Placement Principle and incorporated it in their Child Protection legislation-aimed at promoting safety, wellbeing and best interests of the child (Snaicc Review, 2011). It continues to be a significant guiding principle that forms the basis for the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young adults in Out-of-home care. However, decisions pertaining to placement and reunification of children have increasingly been made on the premises that the best interest of the children is to be in a secure, safe and caring environment that promotes growth. Eventually, the best interest of the child placement criteria has overshadowed the importance of cultural identity by overemphasizing the well-being of the children thus leading to overrepresentation due to the fear of abuse of the children. Various recommendations have been made towards improving childcare and protection of the indigenous children in Australia; however, the nature of government intervention through more effective and cultural-sensitive responses towards improving the welfare of indigenous children in Australia has not been successful. There is a dire need for new, improved remedial strategies that can successfully reduce the number of Aboriginal children entering the formal child protection system, improve the quality of care for those already in the system, and increase exit of children from the formal child protection systems through effective reunifications (Queensland Government, n.d). Overall, the strategies that have worked in other places such as the US were aimed at promoting social equity, monitoring of racial differences in quality and outcome, establishing agency collaborations, improving and expanding service provision, and working with communities. The devastating impact of removing children from their families and natural environments cannot be underestimated, especially in the Australian experience, and this further underscores the need for full implementation of the Child Placement Principle. The Child Placement Principle means a lot to the Aboriginals because it was an idea that was born out of the collective community response to the issue of overrepresentation and it goes beyond the concern of with whom a child is placed to maintaining family and cultural links. The Child Placement Principle also underscores the need to incorporate families and community agencies in decisions pertaining to child placement, hence a full implementation of this principle will entail identifying kin for full-time or shared childcare. In addition to that, the Child Placement Act calls for supporting frequent family contact with parents for children placed with kinship care givers or in out-of home care centres, and reunification of indigenous children to maintain links with their family and community. It is imperative for Australia to invest in community controlled child protection services because, in so far as child protection is concerned, a very small number of communities controlled agencies are funded to provide these services. The provision of child welfare services has been left to the mainstream agencies, which receive funding to provide childcare services, and in this regard, there are very few culturally competent childcare services in Australia. Australia can also reduce entry to the child protection system through accessible and culturally appropriate prevention responses for indigenous children and their families; besides focus on quality service in the childcare system, public policies that privilege child removal to family preservation must also be addressed. Given the direct linkage between high levels of socio-economic disadvantage and allied problems, and the resultant overrepresentation of indigenous children in the child welfare system, focus should shift to improving family functioning and relationships. Macro level factors influencing housing, drug and alcohol abuse, family violence, health, and mental health issues that impede the capacity of indigenous parents to provide care for their children must be dealt with comprehensively before removal interventions. In this regard, prevention and early interventions should seek to establish non-stigmatizing, preventive family support programs, family preservation, community development initiatives to improve living conditions, collaborative housing, health, and childcare, in addition to income support systems, among other things. Ultimately, the current situation of overrepresentation of the indigenous children in most areas such as welfare systems, child protection systems, homelessness, health systems, juvenile and criminal justice systems, among others, has been shaped by the Australian history and culture. Since White settlement in Australia, the indigenous people have been subject to displacements, genocidal policies and practices, family dispersion and racism, and up to date, the indigenous people still suffer discrimination. These historical injustices and experiences have had profound impacts on the social and emotional wellbeing, not only for individuals alone, but also for their families and the community at large thus leading to the current situation-overrepresentation of the indigenous children and young persons in welfare systems, child protection systems, homelessness, health systems, juvenile and criminal justice systems, among others. Interventions to achieve positive results in reducing overrepresentation of indigenous children in child welfare system should involve the indigenous people through collaborative initiatives between child welfare agencies and local communities. Child welfare services should also be expanded to include prevention, early intervention for families that are at a risk, and statutory intervention, besides enhancement of capacity to protect children. References Adams, E. (2011). Losing Ground: A Report on adherence to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle in Queensland. Retrieved from http://www.qatsicpp.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Losingground010911.pdf Aihw. (2013). Strategies and practices for promoting the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Retrieved from http://www.aihw.gov.au/uploadedFiles/ClosingTheGap/Content/Publications/2013/ctgc-rs19.pdf Berlyn C., Bromfield, L. and Lamont, A. (2011). Child protection and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children. Retrieved from http://www.pdc.org.au/lac/res/file/child%20protection%20Aboriginal%20and%20Torres%20Strait%20Islander%20Children.pdf CMC. (2004). Protecting children: An inquiry into abuse of children in foster care. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDwQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cmc.qld.gov.au%2Fresearch-and-publications%2Fpublications%2Flegislatiion-review%2Fprotecting-children-an-inquiry-into-abuse-of-children-in-foster-care&ei=Vba0UaTaLIi0O4_hgaAL&usg=AFQjCNHLB2_y-n8j32pAdsJNTQy0jld9Ag&sig2=aZdSrXZbCRi0Fdtkmt5RFw&bvm=bv.47534661,d.ZWU Combined Voices. (2010). Representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Families in Protection System. Retrieved from http://www.qatsicpp.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Combined-Voices-Policy-Monograph-Addressing-Over-representation1.pdf Dudgeon P.,et.al. (n.d). The Social, Cultural and Historical Context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Retrieved from http://aboriginal.childhealthresearch.org.au/media/54859/part_1_chapter3.pdf Nsw Department of Community Services. (2009). Working with Aboriginal People and Communities: A Practice Resource. Retrieved from http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/docswr/_assets/main/documents/working_with_aboriginal.pdf Queensland Government. (n.d). Blueprint for implementation strategy: Reducing the over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Queensland's child protection system. Retrieved from http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/resources/childsafety/child-protection/blueprint-strategy.pdf Snaicc Review (2011), State and territory legislation incorporating the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle. Retrieved from http://www.snaicc.org.au/_uploads/rsfil/02571.pdf Tilburry, C. (2012). “Intensive family-based support services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families”. Griffith University. Retrieved from http://www.snaicc.org.au/_uploads/rsfil/02866.pdf Read More