But a program Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative and one other agency have trialled is breaking down the barriers to self-determination for Aboriginal communities.

A ROLE for Aboriginal agencies in protecting and caring for Aboriginal children has been part of Victorian law since the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 was created.

But difficulties implementing the legislation rendered Aboriginal organisations unable to intervene as the number of Aboriginal children involved in the child protection system in Victoria skyrocketed.

When the opportunity arose to pilot a program giving Aboriginal agencies the capacity to act as if authorised to make decisions about Aboriginal children, Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative chief executive Raylene Harradine and her team seized it.

“We’ve seen a lot of our kids in limbo for too long in child protection,” Ms Harradine said. 

This week, BDAC was recognised at the 2018 Victorian Protecting Children Awards for its work on the Section 18 ‘As Is’ program.

It was a proud moment for BDAC, which was only the second agency to pilot the initiative.

“It’s just gone from strength to strength,” Ms Harradine said.

In 2005, the Victorian government set about reforming the way Aboriginal children and young people were cared for.

The Community Services Minister at the time, Sheryl Garbutt, recognised that Aboriginal children and young people continued to be over-represented in child protection and out-of-home care services.

“This is unacceptable,” she told parliament during the second reading of the Children, Youth and Families Bill 2005.

“We want to establish a legislative framework that promotes a new approach to maintaining children’s connection to their family and culture, rather than breaking this connection.”

One of the ways she said the government would achieve this was to transfer the responsibility for making decisions about Aboriginal children to Aboriginal communities.

“The Children, Youth and Families Bill enables the Secretary of the Department of Human Services to assign responsibility for managing a court order to the head of an approved Aboriginal organisation,” she said.

The bill passed, and the Secretary’s capacity to authorise the principal officer of an Aboriginal agency to ‘perform specified functions and exercise specified powers’ was enshrined in Section 18 of the legislation.

DOCUMENT: Wungurilwil Gapgapduir: Aboriginal Children and Families Agreement Strategic Action Plan

But there were critical barriers to the section’s implementation, which became clear within a year of the legislation’s proclamation in 2007.

Elements of the legislation prevented the principal officers of Aboriginal agencies from working with their staff to make decisions for Aboriginal children.

In 2012, the Department of Human Services and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations had an idea to progress efforts to implement Section 18.

The following year, the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency started acting ‘as if’ authorised to make decisions for a small group of Aboriginal children and young people subject to Children’s Court custody and guardianship orders.

More than 900 Aboriginal children and young people in Victoria were subject to a Children’s Court Protection Order in Victoria by 2013 – more than double the number 10 years earlier.

The growth in the number of Aboriginal children placed in out-of-home care was comparable, and stood at 922 at the end of June 2012. By June 2017, 2091 Aboriginal children in Victoria were in out-of-home care.

BDAC was initially funded for two case managers, about two years ago.

The program expanded and extended, and is expected to achieve full authorisation either late this year or in 2019.

A Victorian Government review in April said Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care reforms heralded ‘a new era for those working with the most vulnerable Aboriginal children and young people and their families.’

Ms Harradine said Section 18 ‘As If’ had been a challenging at times, but was helping keep Aboriginal children and young people connected to country, to culture, and to family and community.

All of the more than 30 children involved in the BDAC pilot program who were not able to live with their immediate families are now living with extended family members.

Project manager Dion Sing said BDAC engaged with Aboriginal families in a different way than the mainstream system.

“They can never start off on the same foot as where we start off with them,” he said.

Even when difficult conversations had to be had, he said the feedback from participants was that they felt like it was done in a loving way, like family would.

“It’s a two-way, respectful relationship we endeavour to build,” Mr Sing said.

Ms Harradine said BDAC’s standing in the community helped to create a positive environment for  discussions: “They come here and feel safe and feel like they’re connected.”

The broad range of services offered by the agency also meant there was capacity to provide wraparound case practice for families, including parenting and guardianship skills.

For children, the connection to culture and community helped to reinforce a sense of identity and build resilience.

“It’s all about providing opportunities for people to heal,” Mr Sing said.

Ms Harradine said working with families involved in the child protection system was a role the community had been keen for BDAC to assume.

The agency engaged with its community from the get-go – a factor Ms Harradine believed was essential to the pilot’s success.

She said Monday’s award further reinforced the feedback BDAC had received. Looking around on the night, she saw people involved in a range of programs.

“They’re small projects, but they’re making a massive difference,” Ms Harradine said.

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