The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) is responsible for the administration of the child protection system in New South Wales.

Aboriginal children and their families' rights in the child protection system are contained in the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 and the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These rights are also binding on DCJ funded non-government organisations (NGOs) through the administration of service contracts.

In 2022–23, DCJ spent $3.1 billion on child protection and out-of-home care services. This includes $1.9 billion on out of home care services, $800 million on child protection services and $405 million on early and intensive family preservation services.

DCJ subcontracts various early intervention, prevention programs and out-of-home care services to NGOs. However, DCJ is responsible, as system steward, for the effectiveness of the entire child protection system.

This audit assessed whether DCJ and five of its funded NGOs are effectively safeguarding the rights of Aboriginal children in the child protection system. The audit period was June 2018 to June 2023 (five years). In this report, children and young people under 18 are described together as children.

Key findings:

• DCJ has not established governance and accountability mechanisms to ensure compliance with statutory safeguards for Aboriginal children and their families.
• DCJ has not operationalised safeguards afforded to Aboriginal children, which has led to system wide non-compliance.
• DCJ has made negligible progress in implementing key strategies, independent recommendations and reforms designed to improve outcomes for Aboriginal children and their families.

Key recommendations:

By June 2025, the NSW Department of Communities and Justice should:

• Establish governance arrangements that provide oversight of the safeguards for Aboriginal children and families in the child protection system.
• Establish an accountability framework for outcomes of Aboriginal children and their families in the child protection system and embed this clearly and transparently within its operating structure.
• Establish targets and measures using outcomes-focused data that provide clear accountability for DCJ districts and contracted non-government organisations to safeguard Aboriginal children and families in the child protection system.
• Develop and implement a quality assurance process for districts and non-government organisations providing out of home care to hold them accountable for safeguards for Aboriginal children and their families.