Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 8:34:11 to 8:40:55
Review of the implementation status of the 'Bringing Them Home' report recommendations and coordination of redress schemes.
Topics: First Nations, Closing the Gap
Speakers: Corri McKenzie, Senator Lidia Thorpe, Michael Lye, Ellie Whiteaker, Senator Penny Allman-Payne
Every year the government marks the anniversary of the apology to Solen Generations. Which government's departments are responsible for implementing the recommendations of the bringing them home report. When I asked the Attorney General's department this question on Monday, I was told it was your responsibility. So it'd be great to find out what's going on with the recommendations from the bringing them home report.
So Senator, just to Ms. McKenzie will answer, but the bringing them home report requires action from a range of Commonwealth agencies. DSS has responsibility for some of those recommendations. And they put that report out and they assigned to the Commonwealth here's the agency responsible for this action, and here's where we see progress at. And so we take those responsibilities seriously. But I think to be fair, those recommendations are shared responsibilities across the Commonwealth. But we're happy to give you DSS's area of responsibility.
That's all I'm asking.
Thanks, Senator. Yes, there's as you are very well aware, I'm sure there's a number of specific recommendations in bringing them home, particularly that are aligned that line up with and reflect the key actions through Safe and Supported, which you obviously very well aware of. Key key actions that are reflected in Safe and Supported include delegated authority, which is Action One of the Safe and Supported Action Plan, Action Two, which is investment in the community controlled sector. Action three relates to data sovereignty, which is obviously very specific in this area too, and very importantly, Action Five is the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle to the standard of active efforts. So particularly in relation to establishing and strengthening advocacy through the establishment of commissioners, and so obviously the National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Children and Young People is key there. You've already uh referenced the Commissioner and her role today. A national approach to continuing to build sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child and Family Sector Works, particularly. Now that's not exclusively in relation to DSS, but it but uh given it's a specific recommendation around child and family workforce, we obviously have a very significant role, including through safe and supported in workforce development. Um and then uh other recommendations that are relevant, but um again um with colleagues across um the Commonwealth, so things like availability and quality of legal support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families who are engaged with child protection systems. Um most of that work sits with uh the Attorney General's department, but because of its specific relationship to child and family, we work uh closely with them in relation to those. Um so I mean I I think um the bringing them home report obviously um uh had some very key um principles which are um actively underway and in um development across a range of work across um DSS but I would point specifically to SAFE and supported as some of the really key responsibilities around um implementing recommendations from that report and the government's response.
So given you know the state and territory responsibility, who's actually coordinating because the Healing Foundation uh also said only six per cent of all of the recommendations of actually being implemented, which is an absolute disgrace. Uh and I understand you've got you have a deadline of December to provide um well their healing foundation's action plan says that by December this year, DSS should deliver support for stolen gen survivors to address disproportionate impacts of institutional child sexual abuse and deliver an independent review and analysis of access and uptake of all stolen gen redress schemes and the national redress scheme by stolen gen survivors. So Senator Alpha Elsie, who coordinates the bringing them home recommendations and secondly, what's the progress on what the healing foundation's asking of you?
Just before we go to the answer to this question, Senator Thorpe, after we hear this response, I will rotate the call and I can come back to you with another block if you wish.
Thank you. Thanks, Chair.
Over to you, Mr.
So, Senator, um, on the second part of your question, which is the redress schemes and uh First Nations people's um participation in that. Obviously, we want we run a redress scheme, it's not the only scheme in the country, and our obligation in terms of that um report from the Healing Foundation is to is to provide um material back around First Nations people's participation in that national redress scheme for which we're responsible for. So we're not that's our part of that. We don't own the whole uh action there, but we've obviously. Committed to that deadline in terms of providing that information.
Thank you, Senator. Yeah, and so there's there's two points of coordination. NIAA do a lot, particularly in relation to stolen generation survivors, obviously have a really critical role in that space as Mr. Lye has just said. So there are shared responsibilities, but there is a coordinating role in our NPM and C. Thank you very much. Senator Ullman Payne.
But it goes to communications and budgets, I guess.