This report examines government actions to address the over-representation and the outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection systems. This year’s report shows that child protection systems continue to fail Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, with the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children entering out-of-home care continuing to...

This year’s 'Family Matters' report is the third to be published following the development of the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which was entered into in July 2020. The report suggests that only limited progress has been made to redress over-representation and the drivers of child protection intervention.

The Family Matters report 2021 shows that Indigenous children continue to be removed from family and kin at disproportionate rates. This is despite overwhelming evidence about the harm this causes to children, families and communities.

This year’s Family Matters report is the first to be published following the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which was entered into in July 2020. This report focuses on what actions need to be taken to address the over-representation and the outcomes of First Nations children in out-of-home care.

Genuine partnerships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and non Indigenous service providers are important to support an environment in which First Nations communities can work towards self-determination – the collective right of peoples to determine and control their own destiny.