The Government has established a new body for First Nations youths, the ‘National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People’.
The body is expected to focus on issues including the over-representation of First Nations children in out-of-home care and youth detention.
The independent commission will aim to achieve “better outcomes for First Nations children, young people and their families.”
It comes after the latest Closing the Gap report found 14 of 19 targets are not on track to be met.
Commission
The commission will begin operating in January.
It was initially recommended by a 2023 First-Nations-led review.
SNAICC is the peak national body for First Nations children. It called for a commissioner to be a “voice and facilitator for our children, young people and families, and who will hold governments to account.”
The commission will work with First Nations organisations, communities, and existing government agencies to advise lawmakers on key policies.
A National Commissioner will be appointed to directly liaise with the Government on the body’s operations.
Applications for the role will open this month.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said the commission and commissioner will play an important role in ‘Closing the Gap’ between First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians.
McCarthy called the over-representation of First Nations people in youth detention “unacceptable”. and said the commission would work to “turn those figures around”.
Youth outcomes
Annual Closing the Gap data shows that five of 19 targets are on track to be met.
Four targets have been worsening, including childhood development and child protection.
The child protection target is to reduce the proportion of First Nations children in out-of-home care. In 2019, 5.4% of First Nations children were in out-of-home care, which increased to 5.7% in 2023.
Response
In July, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price called the Closing the Gap data “yet another indicator that we need a generational shift in how we try and close the gap.”
The Government has worked with the ‘Safe and Supported Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group’ to establish the new commission.
CEO Catherine Liddle said it will be “a game changer for many children and families”. “It has taken time to get to this point, but we have to get this role right. Our children deserve it,” she said.