The Indigenous Child Placement Principle
Audit 2010

The Commission’s role in relation to the Indigenous Child Placement Principle
The inaugural audit
The current audit – the Indigenous ChiPPA 2010
Expert input to the audit
Progress update
Expected completion date

The Commission’s role in relation to the Indigenous Child Placement Principle

The Commission has a legislated oversight role to monitor and audit the Department of Communities, Child Safety Services’ compliance with section 83 of the Child Protection Act 1999, which prescribes a decision-making process for placing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in out-of-home care.

The driver of this process is the desire for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people to be raised within, or in connection with, their own family, community and culture when they are no longer able to remain safely in the care of their biological parents. The placement process to achieve this remains subject to the overriding consideration that all decisions must be made in the best interests of the child.

The inaugural audit

The Commission conducted its inaugural audit of compliance with section 83 of the Child Protection Act 1999 in 2008 and published the Indigenous Child Placement Principle Audit Report 2008.

The inaugural report made 28 recommendations to the former Department of Child Safety to improve compliance with section 83 of the Child Protection Act 1999, for the purpose of improving cultural outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in out-of-home care. Specifically, the recommendations were aimed at enhancing departmental policies, procedures and systems relating to decision-making and information capture in accordance with section 83 of the Child Protection Act 1999.

The current audit – the Indigenous ChiPPA 2010

The Commission has since commenced the Indigenous Child Placement Principle Audit 2010 (the Indigenous ChiPPA 2010) – its second audit of compliance with section 83 of the Child Protection Act 1999. The Indigenous ChiPPA 2010 has three key components:

• monitoring the implementation of the 28 recommendations made in the inaugural audit
• assessing the Department of Communities’ compliance with section 83 of the Child Protection Act 1999, and
• capturing and reporting the outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in out-of-home care relevant to maintaining their connection to family, community and culture (as intended by the Indigenous Child Placement Principle).

Expert input to the audit

An Advisory Committee has been established under Part 5 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000, comprised of experts in child protection and/or Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander health and wellbeing, to provide advice to the Commission about key issues relevant to the audit, including the adequacy of action taken to implement the 28 recommendations made in 2008 and the methodology for undertaking the Indigenous ChiPPA 2010. Members include representatives from the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak, Remote Area Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Care, Foster Care Queensland, the University of Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit and the Department of Communities.

Progress update

The Commission has progressed significant work against the three key components of the audit:

• Agreed and implemented a methodology for assessing compliance with section 83 of the Child Protection Act 1999 which entailed:
  • examining electronic records sourced from the Department of Communities’ key information system (the Integrated Client Management System) for a random and representative sample of placement decisions made for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in 2008-09, and
  • surveying departmental officers and Recognised Entities who were involved in the placement decisions comprising the audit sample.
    
    
• Analysed child-focussed information gathered by the Commission’s Community Visitors in their visits with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in July 2010 to gain insight into the outcomes they are experiencing about their connection to family, community and culture against four established key areas of focus:
  
  
  • family contact
  • contact with community/ people of significance
  • participation in cultural activities and events, and
  • cultural identity. 
    
    
• Reviewed the Department of Communities’ implementation of the 28 recommendations made in the inaugural audit.
• Held four Advisory Committee meetings to gain expert advice to guide the development and progress of the audit. At the most recent meeting, input was sought in relation to preliminary findings of the audit and the formulation of appropriate recommendations. 

Expected completion date

The Commission is currently finalising the findings, analysis and recommendations of the audit and drafting the associated report which is intended for public release in late 2011.

Last Updated: August 2, 2011

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