Child Protection Reform - Aboriginal Community Engagement Project

On 22 October 2018, the Department for Child Protection’s (DCP) new child safety laws came into effect. These changes are the biggest changes to child protection in South Australia in over 25 years.  

The Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 signals a number of changes that will impact on you as an Aboriginal parent, family, carer and on the Aboriginal community more broadly.

When we think about child protection, we think about Aboriginal children being taken away from families and about families being broken apart, confused, stressed and powerless against a system that seems to have so much power.

AFSS strongly believes that all Aboriginal people have a right to be heard and to be involved in all decisions that affect their children and young people. AFSS’ role in this project is to facilitate genuine, meaningful and honest engagement with local Aboriginal families and groups and to create pathways of communication between Aboriginal groups and the Department for Child Protection – also known as DCP or welfare.

Through this initiative our goal is to share information about the changes in the child protection system and to consult with parents, extended family, and local communities. The focus will always be about improving outcomes for Aboriginal families and on ways to keep Aboriginal children within their family and communities.

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Download the project fact sheets below for more information

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