QCOSS has made a submission to the Community Support and Services Committee on the Child Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020.
Signatories from the Queensland Family and Child Commission, Australian Human Rights Commission, Queensland Human Rights Commission, QCOSS, SNAICC, Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak, PeakCare Queensland and the Office of the Public Guardian made the joint submission, calling for greater safeguards for children in contact with the child protection system.
It recommended two safeguards be included in the Act:
- active efforts to implement the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP);and
- independent oversight for permanency decisions
These safeguards will have particular significance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children due to their ongoing disproportionate representation in the child protection system.
The submission noted that the introduction of active efforts and independent oversight of permanency decisions in the Act would create meaningful safeguards to protect children’s rights and connections to family, community, culture and country.