The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle indicators

The Connection element of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) relates to support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care to maintain or re-establish connections to their family, community, culture and country. This element is considered especially relevant for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children placed with non-Indigenous carers (SNAICC 2017).

Measuring Connection

Connection covers a broad range of actions and supports that can facilitate the maintenance or re-establishment of connection to culture. Connection can be measured by reporting on children in out-of-home care living with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers (measured in indicator 2.1 – to explore data on indicator 2.1, go to the Tableau dashboard).

At 30 June 2021:

• 41% of the 19,500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–17 in out-of-home care were living with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relatives or kin or other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers.
• New South Wales had the highest proportion (48%) of children in out-of-home care living with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relatives or kin or other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers, while Tasmania had the lowest (16%).

Connection can also be measured by reporting on the creation and maintenance of cultural support plans (measured in indicator 2.2 – to explore data on indicator 2.2, go to the Tableau dashboard):

• At 30 June 2021, 73% of the 17,300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–17 in out-of-home care had (and were required to have) a current, documented and approved cultural support plan.

Reporting on efforts to enable a child to safely return to their family (a process referred to as reunification) is also covered by the Connection element (measured in indicator 2.3 – to explore data on indicator 2.3, go to the Tableau dashboard):

• In 2020–21, 16% of the 10,300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–17 in out-of-home care (excluding children on long-term guardianship orders) were reunified during the year.
• Reunifications for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have remained at or below 16%, dropping from 18% in 2016–17.

Successful reunification can be measured by looking at whether the child had returned to out-of-home care within a specific period after a reunification had taken place (measured in indicator 2.4 – to explore data on indicator 2.4, go to the Tableau dashboard):

• 84% of the 1,500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–16 who were reunified with family during 2019–20 did not return to out-of-home care within 12 months.
• In 2019–20, 84% of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children who were reunified did not return to out-of-home care within 12 months. This proportion has remained relatively stable since 2016–17.

Explanatory notes

Indicator 2.1

Indicator 2.1 is a proxy measure of connection to culture for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Being placed with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander caregiver is more likely to improve the prospects of a child to maintain a cultural connection than placement with non-Indigenous relatives or kin. However, this indicator is not intended to suggest that placement with non-Indigenous kin is never desirable or in the best interests of a particular child.

Indicator 2.2

Cultural support plans are created to develop and maintain a child’s connection to family, community, culture and country. They are individualised and reviewed at least annually. Each jurisdiction has a state-specific cultural support plan template and related development process, as well as a local definition of what is required for a plan to be considered complete and/or approved.

Legislation in each state and territory determines whether children are required to have cultural support plans. Only children required to have cultural support plans are reported in this indicator.

This indicator does not measure the quality of cultural support plans or whether the plan covers the 5 elements of the ATSICPP. Other indicators relating to the quality of cultural support plans are in development.

Indicator 2.3

Reunification is a planned process of safely enabling a child to return to their birth parents, family or former guardian. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, this can mean potentially re-establishing the closest possible connection to their family, community and culture, especially for those children who were placed with non-Indigenous carers who are not relatives or kin. Note that there is no national definition of reunification, and each jurisdiction has reported based on their local definition.

Indicator 2.4

While reunifications only occur where it is judged to be in the child’s best interests, a reunification occurring does not guarantee that a child will not return to out-of-home care. 

Connection indicators under development

The following indicators are currently under development under Connection:

References

SNAICC – National Voice for our Children (2017) Understanding and applying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: a resource for legislation, policy, and program development, SNAICC, accessed 16 June 2020.