Continuing the Stolen Generations: Child Protection Interventions and Indigenous People
In: The International Journal of Children's RightsIndigenous Australian children are significantly over-represented in out of home care. Figures evidencing this over-representation continue to increase at a startling rate. Similar experiences have been identified among native peoples in Canada, the United States and New Zealand. Drawing on interviews with lawyers who work with Indigenous parents in child protection matters in Queensland, Australia, this article examines how historical factors, discriminatory approaches and legal structures and processes contribute to the high rates of removal and, we argue, to the perpetuation of the stolen generations.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
ABS: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ASCG Remoteness Classification: Purpose and Use (Canberra: ABS, 2003), online: <http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3110122.nsf/0/f9c96fb635cce780ca256d420005dc02/$FILE/Remoteness_Paper_text_final.pdf>.
-
ABS: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Population Characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Canberra: ABS, 2006), online: <http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3104848D0CABFCCECA257718002A907F?opendocument>.
-
ABS: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (Canberra: ABS, 2006), online: <http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/b06660592430724fca2568b5007b8619/14e7a4a075d53a6cca2569450007e46c!OpenDocument>.
-
Adelson N., ‘Reimagining aboriginality: An indigenous people’s response to social suffering’, Transcultural Psychiatry 37 (2000): 11.
-
AIHW: Australian Government: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Young Australians: Their Health and Wellbeing (Canberra: AIHW, 2007).
-
AIHW: Australian Government: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child Protection Australia Report 2008–2009 Full Report (Canberra: AIHW, 2010).
-
AIHW: Australian Government: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child Protection Australia Report 2009–2010 Full Report (Canberra: AIHW, 2011).
-
ALRC: Australian Law Reform Commission, Family Violence: A National Response (Canberra: AGPS, 2010).
-
Anderson P., & Wild R., Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle ‘Little Children are Sacred’: Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse (Darwin: Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse, 2007), online: <http://www.inquirysaac.nt.gov.au>.
-
Armstrong K., ‘Spirituality, health, stolen generation(s) and reconciliation with our indigenous peoples: Childhood – the missing dimension’, Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal 26(5) (2002): 26.
-
Ashby L., Endangered Children: Dependency, Neglect and Abuse in American History (New York: Twayne Publications, 1997).
-
Atkinson R., , Taylor E., & Walter M., ‘Burying indigeneity: The spatial construction of reality in aboriginal Australia’, Social and Legal Studies 19(3) (2010): 311.
-
Ball J., ‘Fathering in the shadows: Indigenous fathers and Canada’s colonial legacies’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 624 (2009): 29.
-
Ban P., ‘Aboriginal child placement principle and family group conferences’, Australian Social Work 58(4) (2005): 384.
-
Berlyn C., & Bromfield L., Child Protection and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children: Resource Sheet (Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2010).
-
Bessarab D., & Crawford F., ‘Aboriginal practitioners speak out: Contextualising child protection interventions’, Australian Social Work 63(2) (2010): 179.
-
Blagg H., Crime, Aboriginality and the Decolonisation of Justice (Sydney: Hawkins Press, 2008).
-
Bromfield L., & Holzer P., A National Approach to Child Protection: Project Report (Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2008).
-
Bromfield L., & Osborn A., ‘Kinship Care’ Research Brief No. 10 2007 (Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2007).
-
Bromfield L.M. et al., Out-of-home Care in Australia: Messages from Research (Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2005).
-
Buckley H., , Carr N., & Whelan S., ‘Like walking on eggshells: Service user views and expectations of the child protection system’, Child and Family Social Work 16 (2011): 101.
-
CCYPCG: Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian (Queensland Government), How to Meet Identification Requirements to Apply for a Blue Card (April 2009), online: < http://www.ccypcg.qld.gov.au/pdf/bluecard/infosheets/Info-Sheet-How2meetIDrequirementstoapplyforaBC.pdf >.
-
CCYPCG: Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian (Queensland Government), Snapshot 2010: Children and Young People in Queensland (Brisbane: CCYPCG, 2010).
-
Cheers B. et al., ‘Family violence: An Australian indigenous community tells its story’, International Social Work 49(1) (2006): 51.
-
Clarke J., ‘Cubillo v Commonwealth: Casenote’, Melbourne University Law Review 7 (2000): 218.
-
COTA National Seniors, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Report of the Project Commissioned by The Hon Larry Anthony, Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, and Carried Out by COTA National Seniors (Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, July 2003), online: <http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/families/pubs/parenting-grandparents_raising_grandchildren/Pages/default.aspx>.
-
Cunneen C., & White R., Juvenile Justice: Youth and Crime in Australia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).
-
Davis A., ‘Who’s minding the kids?: Child protection in Queensland’, Indigenous Law Bulletin 6(23) (2006): 25–27.
-
de Leeuw S., , Greenwood M., & Cameron E., ‘Deviant constructions: How governments preserve colonial narratives of addictions and poor mental health to intervene into the lives of indigenous children and families in Canada’, International Journal of Mental Health Addiction 8 (2010): 282.
-
Department of Communities: Queensland Government, Child Protection in Queensland 2007–2008 Performance Report (Brisbane: Department of Communities, 2009).
-
Department of Communities: Queensland Government, Child Safety Officer: Qualification Requirements (Brisbane: Child Safety Services, 2011a), online: <http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/resources/careers/child-safety/child-safety-officer-qualifications.pdf>.
-
Department of Communities: Queensland Government, Placement Services (Brisbane: Child Safety Services, 2011b), online: < http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/childsafety/partners/our-community-partners/placement-services#indigenous-safe-house>.
-
Department of Communities: Queensland Government, Providing Foster and Kinship Care: The Role of the Recognised Entity (Brisbane: Child Safety Services, 2012), online: <http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/resources/childsafety/foster-care/fs-07-atsi-recognised-entity.pdf >.
-
Department of Finance and Deregulation, Evaluation of Legal Aid for Indigenous Australians Program (Canberra: AGPS, 2008).
-
Dingwall R., , Eekelaar J., & Murray T., The Protection of the State: State Intervention and Family Life (Oxford: Blackwell, 1983).
-
DoCS: Department of Child Safety (Queensland Government), Child Placement Principle (3 August 2007), online: <http://www.childsafety.qld.gov.au/fostercare/indigenous/child-placement-principle.html>.
-
DoCS: Department of Child Safety (Queensland Government), Funding (8 July 2009), online: <http://www.childsafety.qld.gov.au/funding/index.html>.
-
Dodson M., , ‘Bully in the playground: A new stolen generation?’. In Coercive Reconciliation: Stabilise, Normalise, Exit Aboriginal Australia. ed. Altman J., & Hinkson M. (North Carlton: Arena Publications, 2007) 85.
-
Doreian P., & Woodard K., ‘Fixed list versus snowball selection of social networks’, Social Science Research 21(2) (1992): 216.
-
Douglas H., & Chesterman J., ‘Their ultimate absorption: Assimilation in 1930s Australia’, Journal of Australian Studies 85 (2004): 23.
-
Douglas H., & Corrin J., ‘“A tragedy of monumental proportions”: Indigenous Australians and the sentencing process’, Social and Legal Studies 19(2) (2010): 197.
-
Douglas H., & Walsh T., ‘Mothers and the child protection system’, International Journal of Law Policy and the Family 23(2) (2009): 211.
-
Douglas H., & Walsh T., ‘Mothers, domestic violence and child protection’, Violence Against Women 16(5) (2010): 489.
-
Dunne E., & Kettler L., ‘Grandparents raising grandchildren in Australia: Exploring psychological health and grandparents’ experience of providing kinship care’, International Journal of Social Welfare 17(4) (2008): 333.
-
Edwards J.L., ‘Relative placement in child protection cases: A judicial perspective’, Juvenile and Family Court Journal 61(2) (2010): 1.
-
Fawcett B., & Hanlon M., ‘Child sexual abuse and aboriginal communities in Australia: A case study of non-inclusive government intervention’, European Journal of Social Work 12(1) (2009): 87.
-
Feldthusen B., ‘Civil liability for sexual assault in aboriginal residential schools: The baker did it’, Canadian Journal of Law and Society 22(1) (2007): 61.
-
Gillies V., ‘Perspectives on parenting responsibility: Contextualising values and practices’, Journal of Law and Society 35(1) (2008): 95.
-
Gordon S., ‘Cultural conceptualisation of child abuse and responses to it: An aboriginal perspective’, Social Policy Journal of New Zealand 28 (2006): 18.
-
Hammill J., ‘Granny rights: Combating the granny burnout syndrome among Australian indigenous communities’, Development 44(2) (2001): 69.
-
Hansen P., & Ainsworth F., ‘Parent blaming in child protection and health settings’, Children Australia 32(2) (2007): 29.
-
Harrison G., & Turner R., ‘Being a “Culturally Competent” social worker: Making sense of a murky concept in practice’, British Journal of Social Work 41(2) (2011): 333.
-
Hayes M., ‘Reconciling protection of children with justice for parents in cases of alleged child abuse’, Legal Studies 17(1) (1997): 1.
-
Healy K., , Meagher G., & Cullin J., ‘Retaining novices to become expert practitioners: Creating career pathways in direct practice’, British Journal of Social Work 39 (2009): 299.
-
Helps Y., & Moller G., Aboriginal People Travelling Well Literature Review: Driver Licensing Issues, Seat Restraint Non-compliance (Canberra: Australian Transport Safety Bureau, 2007), online: <http://aboriginalhealth.flinders.edu.au/Newsletters/2010/Downloads/Aboriginal%20People%20Travelling%20Well%20literature%20review.pdf>.
-
Higgins J.R., & Butler N., Promising Practices in Out-of-home care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Carers, Children and Young People: Profiling Promising Programs (Booklet 4) (Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2007).
-
Higgins D., , Bromfield L., & Richardson N., Enhancing Out-of-Home Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2005).
-
HROC: Human Rights and Opportunity Commission, Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families (Canberra: AGPS, 1997).
-
Humpage L., ‘Institutions, interests and ideas: Explaining social policy change in welfare states incorporating indigenous population’, Journal of European Social Policy 20 (2010): 235.
-
Kidd R., The Way We Civilise: Aboriginal Affairs – The Untold Story (Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1997).
-
Kidd R., Black Lives, Government Lies (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2000).
-
Kowal E., , ‘Is culture the problem or the solution? Outstation health and the politics of remoteness’. In Culture Crisis: Anthropology and Politics in Aboriginal Australia. ed. Altman J., & Hinkson M. (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2010) 179.
-
Laws P., & Sullivan E.A., Australia’s Mothers and Babies 2007 (Sydney: AIHW National Perinatal Statistics, 2009).
-
Libesman T., ‘Child welfare approaches for indigenous communities: International perspectives’, Child Abuse Prevention Issues (Australian Institute of Family Studies) 20 (2004): 1.
-
Libesman T., ‘Indigenising indigenous child welfare’, Indigenous Law Bulletin 6(24) (2007): 17.
-
McConnell D., , Llewellyn G., & Ferronato L., ‘Context-Contingent decision-making in child protection practice’, International Journal of Social Welfare 15 (2006): 238.
-
McMahon A., , Reck L., & Walker M., ‘Defining well-being for indigenous children in care’, Children Australia 32(2) (2009): 15.
-
Merlan F., , ‘Child sexual abuse: The intervention trigger’. In Culture Crisis: Anthropology and Politics in Aboriginal Australia. ed. Altman J., & Hinkson M. (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2010) 116.
-
Miles M., & Hubermann A., Qualitative Data Analysis (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994).
-
Murray S., ‘“Why doesn’t she leave?”: Belonging, disruption and domestic violence’, Women’s Studies International Forum 31 (2008): 65.
-
Nakata M., et al., ‘Beneath the surface of anger: Understanding the context of indigenous men’s anger’. In Anger and Indigenous Men. ed. Day A., , Nakata M., & Howells K. (Sydney: Federation Press, 2008) 118.
-
Nancarrow H., , ‘Restorative justice for domestic and family violence: Hopes and fears of indigenous and non-indigenous Australian women’. In Restorative Justice and Violence Against Women. ed. Ptacek J. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010) 123.
-
Naylor B., , Paterson M., & Pittard M., ‘In the shadow of a criminal record: Proposing a just model of criminal record employment checks’, Melbourne University Law Review 32 (2008): 171.
-
NSWLRC: New South Wales Law Reform Commission, ‘The Aboriginal Child Placement Policy’ Research Report 7 (Sydney: NSWLRC, 1997), online: <http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/rr7toc>.
-
O’Donnell M., , Scott D., & Stanley F., ‘Child abuse and neglect — Is it time for a public health approach?’, Australia and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 32(4) (2008): 325.
-
O’Neill C., ‘Christmas without the kids: Losing children through the child protection system’, Children Australia 30(4) (2005): 11.
-
Overington C., ‘Family’s fifth generation in care of the State’, The Australian (20 February 2009).
-
Pearson N., Up from the Mission: Selected Writings (Melbourne: Black Inc. 2009).
-
Peterson C., , Maier S.F., & Seligman M., Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the Age of Personal Control (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).
-
Phillips G., Addictions and Healing in Aboriginal Country (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 2003).
-
Pilkington Garimara D., Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence (Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1996).
-
Robertson B., Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Taskforce on Violence Report (Brisbane: Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Development, 2000).
-
Rowse T., , ‘Re-figuring indigenous culture’. In Culture Crisis: Anthropology and Politics in Aboriginal Australia. ed. Altman J., & Hinkson M. (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2010) 153.
-
Rudd K., Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples (13 February 2008), online: <http://www.aph.gov.au/house/rudd_speech.pdf>.
-
Ruska K. et al., ‘Recent legislative developments in Queensland child protection law affecting indigenous children and families’, Indigenous Law Bulletin 6(23) (2006): 21.
-
Shangreaux C., & Blackstock C., Staying at Home: Examining the Implications of Least Disruptive Measures in First Nations Child and Family Service Agencies (First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada, 2004), online: <http://www.fncfcs.com/docs/Staying_at_Home.pdf>.
-
Tilbury C., ‘The over-representation of indigenous children in the Australian child welfare system’, International Journal of Social Welfare 18 (2009): 57.
-
Tilbury C., & Thoburn J., ‘Using racial disproportionality and disparity indicators to measure child welfare outcomes’, Children and Youth Services Review 31 (2009): 1101.
-
Trocme N., , Knoke D., & Blackstock C., ‘Pathways to the overrepresentation of aboriginal children in Canada’s child welfare system’, The Social Service Review 78(4) (2004): 577.
-
Trudgen R., Why Warriors Lie Down and Die (Darwin: Aboriginal Resource and Development Services Inc, 2001).
-
Ombudsman Victorian, Own Motion Investigation into Child Protection – Out of Home Care (Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer, 2010).
-
Walsh T., & Douglas H., ‘Legal responses to child protection, poverty and homelessness’, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 31(2) (2009): 133.
-
Walsh T., & Douglas H., ‘Lawyers, Advocacy and Child Protection’, Melbourne University Law Review 35(2) (2011): 620.
-
Weaver H., ‘Indigenous people and the social work profession: Defining culturally competent services’, Social Work 44(3) (1999): 217.
-
WSIPP: Washington State Institute for Public Policy, Racial Disproportionality in Washington State’s Child Welfare System (Olympia, WA: WSIPP, 2008), online: <http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/08-06-3901.pdf>.
-
Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld)
-
Childcare Act 2006 (UK)
-
Children and Community Services Act 2004 (WA)
-
Children and Young People Act 2008 (ACT)
-
Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW)
-
Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1997 (Tas)
-
Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic)
-
Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 (Qld)
-
Commissioner for Children and Young People and Child Guardian v. Maher & Anor [2004] QCA 492
-
Commissioner for Children and Young People and Child Guardian v. Maher [2004] QCA 492
-
Criminal Records Review Act, RSBC 1996
-
Explanatory Memorandum, Child Protection Bill 1998 (Qld)
-
The Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009 (UK)
-
RJ v. Department of Communities (Child Safety Services) [2010] QCAT 619
-
1)
In 2006, the mean equalised gross household income for Indigenous people was $460 per week, compared with $740 for non-Indigenous people in Australia (see ABS, 2006).
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 2613 | 927 | 51 |
| Full Text Views | 1876 | 548 | 24 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 2243 | 1226 | 41 |
Continuing the Stolen Generations: Child Protection Interventions and Indigenous People
In: The International Journal of Children's RightsIndigenous Australian children are significantly over-represented in out of home care. Figures evidencing this over-representation continue to increase at a startling rate. Similar experiences have been identified among native peoples in Canada, the United States and New Zealand. Drawing on interviews with lawyers who work with Indigenous parents in child protection matters in Queensland, Australia, this article examines how historical factors, discriminatory approaches and legal structures and processes contribute to the high rates of removal and, we argue, to the perpetuation of the stolen generations.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 2613 | 927 | 51 |
| Full Text Views | 1876 | 548 | 24 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 2243 | 1226 | 41 |