Anglicare Australia says next Budget needs to do more to Close the Gap for children

Anglicare Australia has called for the next Federal Budget to do more to Close the Gap for First Nations children, urging the Federal Government to fully implement the National Agreement on Closing the Gap to reduce the number of First Nations children in out-of-home care by 45 per cent by 2031.

Not only is the number of First Nations children in out-of-home care increasing, so too is compliance with the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, the submission notes. 

Only 40 per cent of children were placed with First Nations carers in 2021, compared with 53 per cent in 2013. For First Nations children, being separated from family can mean the loss of their cultural connection and identity, threatening their health and wellbeing.

One solution, Anglicare Australia’s Executive Director Kasy Chambers said, is for out-of-home care facilities to collaborate with Aboriginal organisations.

“What many Anglicare’s are doing is working to handover the programs that they’ve got to Aboriginal-owned organisations,” she explained to the National Indigenous Times.

“Some of the stuff we’ve done is to work with Elders, to bring in Elders as advisors to foster workers and placement workers to try and help keep those kids involved in their culture.”

Central to the submission is a call from Anglicare for the removal of the activity test for the Child Care Subsidy for First Nations children. 

While there have been recent changes in this space which will see improved access for First Nations children who are now eligible for 36 hours of care a fortnight, Anglicare Australia is calling for the bottom two steps of the activity test to be removed.

The next federal budget is scheduled to be handed down in March. To read the original coverage of this story, please see here.