The voices and needs of children in foster care and other forms out-of-home care should be prioritised, according to a new report from the Australian Human Rights Commission.
'A ground to grow from' is the latest report from the National Children's Commissioner's Supporting Quality Engagement with Children project. Funded by the Australian Department of Social Services, this project aims to enable the voices of children, young people and their families to influence the design and delivery of policies and services that are meant to help them.
Based on consultations with over 500 children and young people, the new report makes 8 recommendations to centre the experiences and views of children in an upcoming review by the Australian Government of the National Standards for out-of-home care.
A key finding is that children and young people need a meaningful sense of belonging and identity so that they can be safe and thrive in out-of-home care environments.
National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds: 'What we've heard from hundreds of children across the country is that a positive sense of self and strong personal and cultural connections are vital for their wellbeing in out-of-home care, as well as in the health, education and social services systems.
'The importance of relationships with family, friends and community has been a dominant theme across all our consultations. This shows that support for meaningful relationships should be core to all policies which aim to help children, not just the children in out-of-home care.
'The young people also said how important it was to them that their voices were heard and acted on to help shape a more positive experience of out-of-home care.
'When children feel they're respected and included in decisions that affect their lives, then the quality and experience of those services improves significantly.
At the launch of the report earlier this week in Sydney, a panel of young people from Youth Consult for Change with experience of out-of-home care discussed the importance of participation. Some of their comments included:
- 'It's incredibly powerful for young people in out-of-home care to have a say in how the system works because lots of kids in out-of-home care, their voices are usually pushed aside, their opinions shutdown.'
'There can be a lack of trust in agencies, and you carry that into later life, into adulthood. Systems can cause harm to children and young people and create barriers that stop them from engaging with systems in the future.'
Commissioner Hollonds: 'I am deeply grateful to the hundreds of children and young people who shared their experiences and advice to governments and service providers. It was a privilege to spend time listening to these children, and I urge governments and service providers to act on what the children have told us.'
The new report builds on previous work through the SQE project on how to improve services and supports for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
The new report is available on the Commission's website: Read it here
