A national review of out-of-home care

15.3     The ALRC is aware of current, and recent inquires that may encompass a review of child protection laws and processes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, including the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory,^[1] and the 2017 New South Wales Legislative Council Inquiry into Child Protection. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has also recently reported on out-of-home care, which may include a national response focusing on the reduction of all abuse in that setting. State and territory governments have also developed out-of-home care strategies.^[2] However, the ALRC notes that there has not been a national review of the laws and processes operating within the care and protection systems of the various states and territories. The Australian Human Rights Commission expressed support for such a review suggesting ‘it is timely for a national review of the laws and processes operating within the care and protection system of states and territories’.^[3]

15.4     In terms of this Inquiry, it is the view of the ALRC that the incarceration rate of adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples cannot be fully and satisfactorily addressed without a national review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection, and the state and territory laws that see such children placed into out-of-home care.