The state government has announced it has entered into a landmark agreement with two of NSW’s leading Aboriginal peak bodies to drive long-overdue reform to the state’s child protection and foster care systems.
This historic partnership between the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), AbSec – NSW Child, Family and Community Peak Aboriginal Corporation – and the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited represents a significant step toward a safer, fairer, and more culturally responsive child protection system.
At the heart of the agreement is a shared commitment to reducing the unacceptable overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care. It builds on the parties’ shared obligations under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and aligns with the Minns Labor government’s broader vision for system reform.
The partnership will contribute to the NSW government’s ambitious reforms to see more children living safely with their families, connected with their culture and communities, and supported to thrive.
The commitment
Through this agreement, the partners commit to: embedding Aboriginal voices in shaping child protection policy and decision-making; ensuring transparency and accountability across all aspects of the partnership; working together as equals to reform the system.
The partnership was developed from the 2023 Aboriginal Child Safety and Wellbeing Reform Forum and progresses the nine commitments made at the forum by the Minister for Families and Communities and Minister for Disability Inclusion, Kate Washington.
It also follows last week’s record $350 million commitment by the Minns Labor government to fund Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) to deliver family preservation programs over the next five years, and builds on other major reforms already underway, including: ending the use of unaccredited emergency accommodation for vulnerable children; reducing the number of children in all types of high-cost emergency arrangements (HCEAs) by 35 per cent since November 2023; standing up Waratah Care Cottages to better support children and sibling groups stuck in HCEAs; delivering the largest caseworker pay rise in over a decade; redeploying specialist caseworkers to the frontline, now supporting an additional 300 vulnerable children, and; releasing a comprehensive system review and roadmap for reform
Genuine, lasting change
This partnership lays the foundation for genuine, lasting change – built on trust, shared responsibility, and a unified commitment to better outcomes for Aboriginal children and families.
CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited, Karly Warner said that ever since colonisation, the child protection system has disproportionately removed Aboriginal children from their families. This is an injustice that must be urgently addressed.
Share decision-making with Aboriginal communities
‘The Closing the Gap agreement calls on government agencies to work in partnership and share decision-making with Aboriginal communities. That’s exactly what this agreement seeks to achieve. Working together is essential to achieving change for our kids, families and communities.
‘The ALS welcomes the partnership agreement and looks forward to a future where all Aboriginal children are supported to grow up safe and healthy in their own families, communities and culture.’
Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington said this partnership is a critical step towards tackling the over-representation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care. ‘We’re not doing this alone—we’re walking alongside Aboriginal organisations, in partnership. This agreement is built on action, respect, and shared responsibility.
‘We’ve already ended the use of unaccredited emergency accommodation and committed to record investment in Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations that help keep children safe. This is real reform—and it’s already underway.’
‘This agreement sets the foundation for lasting change. It keeps us accountable—and it keeps Aboriginal voices at the centre of everything we do.’
A vital step
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty David Harris said that this landmark agreement between the NSW Government and two leading Aboriginal peak organisations is a vital step in keeping Aboriginal children safe and connected to their families and culture.
‘For too long Aboriginal communities haven’t had a real say in the decisions that affect their children and this agreement moves us further along the path to changing that.
‘We’re continuing to turn our Closing the Gap commitments for shared decision-making into action, by working with Aboriginal organisations to lead the way in keeping kids safe.’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
