A group of Aboriginal children’s advocates is calling for a dedicated national role for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. It will be discussed at one of the largest child welfare conferences in the country which is taking place in Darwin.
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00:00 We can expect to hear from more than 1,600 delegates that have come from all around the
00:07 country to give presentations on how to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
00:12 Islander children, both who are remaining with their families and those who are already
00:16 in the out-of-home care system.
00:19 And that's going to look primarily at transferring a lot of power back to Aboriginal-led organisations,
00:25 as has been done in New Zealand.
00:26 And the reason I mention New Zealand is that already we've heard from the Honourable Judge
00:30 Frances Ivers, a Maori woman, who has actually spoken to the conference yesterday about some
00:35 of the ways in which they have improved outcomes in New Zealand, have been primarily about
00:40 giving more Maori organisations the chance to have control over decisions around the
00:45 development of children, as well as how they might be best supported to address the range
00:50 of entrenched disadvantages that are very well known in both New Zealand and Australia
00:54 around education, health and even social welfare outcomes as well.
00:59 All of those are on the agenda.
01:00 And as you mentioned up top, we're also going to hear about a call for a National Aboriginal
01:06 and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner in Australia, which would be the first of its
01:09 kind.
01:11 This meeting comes at a critical time.
01:13 The campaign for the voice to Parliament is ramping up.
01:16 What proposal is being put forward today?
01:20 So that proposal for a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner, it's
01:24 backed in by First Nations, Caucus of Children's, Guardians, Commissioners and Advocates.
01:29 And they say that this will be a way to have a more focused and national attention and
01:35 accountability driven from an office that would be able to say to governments, regardless
01:39 of whether you're here in Darwin, down in Sydney or anywhere else in the country, about
01:43 saying, here are the policy outcomes we know that work.
01:46 We have a lot of the answers and solutions already within our communities and that they
01:50 can be pushed and streamlined in through a national advocacy group.
01:54 Some of the detail will be revealed a little bit later this morning when some of these
01:58 children, commissioners and guardians speak about how it might work.
02:01 Additionally, explaining more about how it might address some of that entrenched disadvantage.
02:06 We will also be hearing from the YES campaign throughout Darwin today.
02:10 Dean Parkin, who's a campaign director of YES 23, he's also attending this conference
02:15 as well as launching the local YES 23 campaign here in Darwin off the back of the referendum
02:20 date being announced.
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