Annotated Bibliography: Indigenous Children and Out-of-Home Care

This annotated bibliography examines the over-representation of Indigenous children in the Australian out-of-home care (OOHC) system. It reviews articles and reports that address the challenges faced by Indigenous children in care, including the loss of cultural identity, lack of connection to family and community, and the impact of government policies. The bibliography explores strategies to improve child welfare practices, such as cultural support planning, family involvement, and community collaboration. Key themes include the importance of cultural connection, the need for culturally appropriate services, and the role of policy in advocating for the well-being of Indigenous children in OOHC. The bibliography also highlights the perspectives of workers in both Indigenous-specific and non-Indigenous services, and examines the interrelationship between child protection and youth justice systems. The selected sources offer insights into the complexities of the issue and potential solutions to address the over-representation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system, emphasizing the need for systemic change and culturally sensitive approaches.

Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Annotated bibliography
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

TITLE: Ways of Addressing the Over-Representation of Australian Indigenous Children in Out-
Of-Home-Care System.
1. Moss, M. (2009). Broken circles to a different identity: an exploration of identity for
children in out–of‐home care in Queensland, Australia. Child & Family Social
Work, 14(3), 311-321.
The article by Moss (2009) discusses about the sense of identity loss issue for the
indigenous community and evaluates identity issues for children and young people in foster care.
It also gives an insight into identity from the perspective of professionals working in child
protection and out of home care. The data was collected using the narrative art interviews with
children aged between 4 years and 18 years. In depth profiling and family history related data
was collected to gain better understanding about lived experiences of young people. 50% of the
children in the sample had parents who were divorced and five of them were living Out-Of-
Home-Care (OOHC). All the 13 samples came from nuclear samples suggesting that these
children lost contact with their family members. There were different reasons for loss of family
contact such as father being the abuser, father being deceased, mother being unavailable or
mother not being able to care for their children. 35% of the children displayed confusion about
the identity of children too. The interview also assessed children’s sense of connection and for
children in OOHC, there was a demand for increased contact with siblings. The second stage of
the research collected data from Department of Child Safety and AICCA and the main issues
raised by workers were detrimental impact of lack of indigenous cares, lack of trust and funding
and lack of research into children’s background on practice. The main contribution of this paper
to the topic is that it explains key differences in connectedness, self esteem and psychological
well people of young people at OOHC compared to those not in this service. Thus, the condition

of indigenous people is found to be bad in OOHC and there is a need to extend participation of
family in ceremony needs to foster sense of connection.
2. Cuthbert, D., & Quartly, M. (2010). Adoption, fostering, permanent care and beyond Re-
thinking policy and practice on out-of-home care for children in Australia. Children
Australia, 35(2), 2-5.
The main purpose of this article was to summarize about a symposium held in Department of
Human Services, Victoria that explained about the need to rethink policy and modify practice on
OOHCC for children in Australia. The significance of this article to the topic is that it announced
a framework for change which supports actions on seven fronts. These actions include
supporting children to remain with their families at home, to prepare these children to effectively
make transition to adult life, enhance the education of these children in OOHC, improve
education of children in care, develop child focussed systems and develop culturally appropriate
services for the group. The speakers in the symposium pointed to several remarkable papers that
highlighted ways to enhance the rights of children in OOHC. Some of the noteworthy suggestion
included paying consideration to the cultural identity of the child and fostering connection to
community for such children so that safety, stability and developmental needs are met. It also
pointed out to the emergence of the ‘best interest principle’ and implementation or child or
family oriented policies to better address current deficiencies for children in OOHC. Thus, the
contribution of this paper to the topic is that it suggested that critical role of appropriate policies
in advocating for well being and supporting the children in OOHC. However, the challenge was
that unless children themselves do not make application to the court, their interest mostly
depends on other parties who could provide them assistance during procedure.

3. TendersInfo News (2017). "Nation First, 20-Year Strategy To End Over-Representation
Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanderchildren In Out Of Home
Care". Statements.Qld.Gov.Au, 2020,
http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2017/5/30/nation-first-20year-strategy-to-end-
overrepresentation-of-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islanderchildren-in-out-of-home-care.
This news article reported about a new strategy called Our Way, launched to improve the over
representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children in the child protection system. It
was an ambitious 20 year plan by the Minister for Child Safety Shannon Fentiman which was
initiated with an investment of about $ 162.8 million. The aim of the program was to deliver
genuine and collaborative support for Aboriginal people parents to ensure that their children
grow safe in an environment surrounded by family and culture. This action was taken in response
to the need to close the gap between Aboriginal children and non indigenous children. As
breaking the cycle of disadvantage is challenging, Queensland announced their approach to
collaborate with Family Matters, which can provide the right support to address needs of
Aboriginal children and their families. In collaboration with this organization, national campaign
led by 150 Aboriginal organizations was also announced. Some of the key features of the
program in the first action plan were investment for $150 million for Aboriginal Family
Wellbeing Services, $6 million for the Empowering Families Innovation Fund and promoting
kinship for children on OOHC. Thus, through working in partnership with communities, this
news gave an overview about a flexible and culturally appropriate response to achieve
generational change. The main contribution of this article to the topic of interest is that it gives
clue regarding how community strengths and collaboration can be used to foster health
promotion for children in OOHC.

4. Chapter 7: Addressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander overrepresentation
This chapter gives an insight into strategies to address over representation of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people. The chapter discusses about current situation in Queensland about
child protection. The overrepresentation of aboriginal children is a major concern especially in
long term OOHC. The number of notifications for non-indigenous children has decreased since
2000, however the notifications have increased for Aboriginals by 35% in the sample year. The
chapter reports about several causes of over representation namely trauma from past government
policies, intergenerational effects of removal, high rate of alcohol and drug use and limited
services and supports in some communities. The chapter further reports about intrinsic factors
leading to over representation such as fragmented nature of child protection services, over
reliance on tertiary response, lack of knowledge of child protection among parents and exclusion
of primary care givers from child protection services. In response to these issue, the article brings
forward several ways to address over representation. Some of these included making a change in
approach, balancing the current focus on tertiary response and the increase in number of
indigenous staff in the child protection services. The chapter also suggested integration of
secondary and tertiary child function. The main significance of the topic in relation the research
topic is that it highlights cause behind over representation as well as reforms to address the issue.
Moreover it also presents the function of peak bodies in addressing the issue and the role of share
values underpinned by legislation in addressing the problem.
5. Mendes, P., Saunders, B., & Baidawi, S. (2016). Indigenous Young People Transitioning
from Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) in Victoria, Australia: The Perspectives of Workers in
Indigenous-Specific and Non-Indigenous Non-Government Services. International
Indigenous Policy Journal, 7(3).

The main purpose of this research article was to examine the current leaving care and post care
supports available to indigenous care leavers and to enhance knowledge of existing programs
that can assist indigenous care leavers. The exploratory research was done with focus group.
Total 32 individuals from seven agencies participate in seven groups to give answer to the
research question. The results of the study gave idea about the nature of systems and processes
related to child protection and the aboriginal child protection principle (ACPP). The participants
revealed about the presence of secondary consultation with ACCOs and getting access to
specialised advice. Focus groups also pointed out to shortage of indigenous carers and challenges
in balancing the principle of siblings working together. Other major themes emerging from the
study included strong value for work of ACCOs and the need to increase cultural awareness and
sensitivity to work with indigenous communities. In relation to the limitations for leaving care
and post care systems, the respondents revealed about inflexibility and limited resources,
evidence of aboriginal people absconding from placement and the limitation of leaving care
based on cultural consideration. Thus, the study pointed out to traditional needs and experiences.
The significance of article in relation to the topic is that it points out to the strategy of
reconciliation and relationship building on addressing over representation issues. Future
consultation with leavers can help to understand connections to culture for the community.
6. Lehmann, J., & Vicary, D. (2015). Out-of-Home Care–Where to Next?. Children
Australia, 40(4), 290-297.
This article looks back at the trend towards OOHC in the past and evaluates what has worked
and not worked for this service. The articles used work of various researchers to explain about
the topic. In the mid 20th century, there was high number of babies available for adoption because
of stigma towards pregnancy in unmarried women. However, with the change in time and

perception towards pregnancy, teenage mothers have started accepting their babies. This has
resulted in a decline in adoption rates. However, parents adapting babies in current times are
encouraged to adopt children with disability. The article mentions about four lessons to be learnt
from past and these four lessons included changing social and political expectations to meet the
needs of children and young people, the acceptance of the fact that there is no single pattern of
adoption, the complexity associated with bringing up someone’s else children and the failure of
the OOHC system because of diverse idea of parenting. The main significance of the article is
that recommended innovative strategies to address overrepresentation. Firstly, the article
recommended that families need to have the right to be fully engaged in the treatment of young
people and the need to focus on relational safety and intervention. It suggested the utility of
range of specific programs in changing the paradigm for child protection in Australia.
7. Tilbury, C. (2009). The over‐representation of indigenous children in the Australian child
welfare system. International Journal of Social Welfare, 18(1), 57-64.
Due to the seriously over representation of Aboriginals in the child welfare system, the
article aimed to examine in details about the problem. The article revealed several dis-
proportionality at key decision points in the child welfare system. Some of the main
problems highlighted in the article included overrated reporting of neglect, difficulty in
classifying different types of neglect and the impact of parental behaviour on harm to a child.
The article stated facts like 14 time more youth justice supervision orders for aboriginal
children compared to non indigenous group. The author suggested the role of ineffective
government responses to family violence as a barrier to achieving social justice for the
community. Hence, improvement in government action was regarded as a remedy to this
situation. The article identified several gaps in child and family welfare services for the

group. For example, the study mentioned about problems such as low level of funding in
these agencies. In response to these issues, the paper recommended inclusion of transfer of
legal jurisdiction in current legislation. Other unprecedented action suggested in the article
were withholding of income security payments from parents, conducting health assessment
for indigenous children, increasing policy to promote safety of the community, making the
supply of alcohol illegal, taking control over governance and banning the use of pornograph.
The significance of the paper is that it highlighted about the criminality aspect which is core
reason behind child maltreatment. Hence, inclusion of models that considers indigenous
participation and authority in decision making was explained as a solution to the issue.
8. Krakouer, J., Wise, S., & Connolly, M. (2018). “We live and breathe through culture”:
Conceptualising cultural connection for Indigenous Australian children in out-of-home
care. Australian Social Work, 71(3), 265-276.
The importance of this article for the research topic is that it suggests the role of fostering
cultural connection to address indigenous children overrepresentation issues in OOHC. The
article illustrates the effectiveness of this strategy by discussing about the historical
significance of culture in the Indigenous Australians. The term cultural genocide was given
to the atrocities inflicted on aboriginal children in the past and based on evaluation of
experiences of these children, the study identified need for reconnection with Aboriginal
identity and culture. In order to respond to indigenous issues in contemporary Australian
welfare, the article explains about various child protection systems in the country to serve the
best interest of the child. Some important frameworks for child protection were the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, National Framework for Protecting
Australia’s Children 2009–2020 and the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle. The key

strategies discussed in the article to protect indigenous Australian culture included promotion
of aboriginal culture as a source of strength and resilience, implementation of policies that
reinforce the importance of culture for indigenous children and promotion of connection to
culture by strengthening ongoing connection to family, land and community. One of the
important suggestions was the need to thinking differently about family and indigenous
Australian culture. The author suggested that this would be possible by adapting child
development models to identify child’s view of the world and increasing funding to improve
collaboration between non indigenous agencies and Aboriginal specific organization. The
significance of the paper is that it identified the role of indigenous and non-indigenous
organization in overcoming the issue and suggested reunification possibilities by supporting
indigenous people to develop healthy relationship with children.
9. Mendes, P., & Baidawi, S. (2012). Pathways into youth justice: Strengthening policy and
program supports for young people in the youth justice system who are transitioning from
out-of-home care. Children Australia, 37(1), 10-22.
This article discusses about the findings of a Victorian pilot study to examine the interrelation
between the child protection and youth justice systems. Through series of interviews and focus
groups, the study mainly evaluates the impact of leaving care plans and policies in minimizing
involvement with youth justice. It discussed about several Victorian Leaving Care Legislation
and Policy such as the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 that has increased the provisions
of leaving care. The results of the study give idea regarding the age of maltreatment, type of
maltreatment and strategies to address them in OOHC. The age of maltreatment was reported to
be between 12 and 15 years. The type of maltreatment ranged from emotional abuse, sexual
abuse, neglect and physical abuse. The study also recommended several practice and policy

recommendations to reduce rate of young people in juvenile correction systems. Some of these
recommendations included revision of policies to reduce unnecessary criminalization of young
people in residential care, implementation of welfare based approach to managing offending and
the role of supports and programs for young people in care. Some examples of such programs
were the holistic leaving care models and the lack of incomes. The study gave insight into
several future research directions such as the need to understand the circumstances leading to
transition of youths to criminal behaviour and the role of social workers in addressing the issue.
However, as this study lacked heterogeneous sample, presence more representative sample could
address the limitations of the study. The importance of the paper is that it focused on policy
related actions so that juvenile correction system could be established. This may help reduce
criminalization of youths.
10. Gill, A. & Oakley, G., (2018). Agency workers’ perceptions of cross-system
collaboration to support students in out-of-home care. Children Australia, 43(1), pp.47-
56.
The significance of this resource in response to the research topic is that it suggested the role of
cross-system collaboration too address the issues of overrepresentation in OOHC. A qualitative
case study based research investigated about the child protection worker’s perception of their
work with primary school educators in Western Australia. The analysis of the findings was done
in relation to the researcher’s adaptation of Whittington’s (2003) Two-Stage Model of
Collaboration. The significance of this model was that it looked elements of team spheres such as
personal, professional, service users and carer spheres. The key findings from the interview was
that education planning protocols enhanced and strengthened cross system communication and
educational planning. The Organization sphere is linked to the Government regulations and

structures. In case of topic, participants expressed the efficacy of MOU protocol in increasing
accountability. The team sphere involves the importance of engaging in strong working
relationships. Ongoing communication took place through telephone, email and face contacts
and participants expressed strategies like giving advice. The professional sphere involves
educator training and identity. This theme gave evidence for high rate of stigma among educators
regarding child protective services. The last theme was the personal sphere which highlighted the
importance of just being available. The main conclusion from the study was that established
educational planning protocol can enhance educational service for students in OOHC. Awareness
of practitioners regarding changing policies and practices can also minimize the burden in
OOHCs. Thus, consideration of the hierarchical nature of influence is the main significance of
this study.
11. Menzies, K., & Stoker, L. (2015). When “Culture Trumped Safety”, Developing a
Protective Weave in Child Welfare Organisations: A Case Study. Children
Australia, 40(3), 260-268.
This study discussed about the solutions to address child welfare issues in OOHC by looking
at the case of an OOHC agency which failed to protect. The case study analysis looked at
gaps in practice and culture in the case. Thus, taking cues from the above findings, the author
suggested the role of organization structures in preventing children in OOHC. For example,
one role of the CEO of the organization in the case study was that he looked at improving
grooming behaviours by improving access to services for vulnerable young people. However,
he relied on his positional powers and he ignored standards, isolated adults and created an
organizational culture of fear and secrecy. This experience in the case study revealed that
even while working in stressful conditions, adhering to standards and good practice is

important. He failed to engage in culturally competency care. However, through the gaps in
his service, the study indicated how cultural sensitivity and culturally competent practice can
enhance services in OOHC. Hence, through the analysis of organizational structure in the
case study, the study concluded about key lessons learnt. Some of the recommendations
through these lessons were to consider well designed and evolve organization systems and
process, engage in high level knowledge and application of trauma informed approach and
implementing system wide cultural competence. Thus, briefly proving cultural competence
training was identified as a strategy to address over-representation issues on OOHCs. The
key significance of the findings on current workers is that it has revealed how opportunities
for collaboration could be increased with indigenous workers and families.
12. McDowall, J. J. (2016). Connection to culture by indigenous children and young people
in out-of-home care in Australia. Communities, Children and Families Australia, 10(1),
5.
This study emphasized on the importance of connection to culture for indigenous children and
youth in OOHC in Australia. The main problem in the study was the presence of large number of
indigenous children in these homes and the lack of their placement according to the Aboriginal
Child Placement Principle. The study was done with 296 indigenous children and young people
and the strength of their connection to culture was analyzed. Some of the crucial findings of the
study were that 31% of the participants reported no connection to culture. In addition, 14% of the
sample was aware about the personal cultural support plan. The main reason for no connection to
culture was lack of access to family story to identify sense of connection. This trend was seen
because they were very frequently in contact with their families. The predictor of strength of
connection was contact with family, knowledge about family story and the possession of a