A new online interactive dashboard aims to shine a light on the over-representation of First Nations youth in Australia’s child protection system.
Launched by the Queensland Family & Child Commission (QFCC), the tool looks to increase accountability and transparency in how over-representation is monitored.
In a statement the Commission said the country’s “greatest challenge and contemporary injustice is the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in statutory child protection systems across Australia”.
It said the over-representation was a pervasive feature of child protection systems in all jurisdictions and was growing with more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in the Queensland child protection system than ever before.
The QFCC runs a Principle Focus program which monitors and examines the dynamics and drivers of the over-representation in Queensland’s child protection system.
“The program isn’t just about identifying challenges; it is also an opportunity to identify promising practices and provide a platform to encourage exceptional examples to become the norm,” the Commission stated.
It said the new Principle Focus dashboard presents state and regional over-representation data and highlights the inconsistent interpretation and application of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle’s (ATSICPP), the legislated framework in Queensland that guides Child Safety policy and practice decisions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
It hoped the dashboard would help build a shared understanding, in local contexts, about the dynamics and drivers of over-representation and about what can and must be done collectively to improve outcomes for First Nations children and families.
The Principle Focus dashboard presents statewide and regional data about over-representation. Each region has a ‘story behind the data’ that identifies the key barriers to reducing over-representation, highlights promising practices, and gives localised context to the data.
The Principle Focus dashboard is available to view on the QFCC website.
