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• Introduction
  • Acknowledgments
  • The Department of Child Safety
  • Relevant legislation
  • Other key departmental documents
  • Accountability for children in Queensland
  • Framework for the participation of children and young people in decision-making
  • Respecting diversity
  • Recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities
  • Delegations
  • Child safety service centres: Staff roles and responsibilities
  • How to use the Child Safety Practice Manual
  • Practice maps
• Chapters
  • 1. Intake
  • 2. Investigation and assessment
  • 3. Use of powers
  • 4. Ongoing intervention
  • 5. Intervention with parental consent
  • 6. Intervention with a child protection order
  • 7. Children in out-of-home care
  • 8. Regulation of care
  • 9. Matters of concern
  • 10. Unborn children
  • 11. Transfers
  • 12. Professional supervision
  • 13. Critical incident reporting
  • 14. Child deaths
  • 15. Family Court of Australia
  • 16. Youth justice and child protection interface
  • 17. Interstate matters
  • General procedures
• Practice papers
• Resources
• Quicklinks
  • Acronyms
  • Glossary of terms
  • Previous versions
  • Printable version
  • Updates

General procedures

• i. Decision-making about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
• ii. Staff safety and well-being
• iii. Structured Decision Making
• iv. Statutory obligation to notify the Queensland Police Service of possible criminal offences
• v. Case management
• vi. Information sharing
• vii. Making a referral to Evolve
• viii. Referral for Active Intervention services
• ix. The role of the Child Safety After Hours Service Centre
• x. Writing affidavits
• xi. Responding to client complaints
• xii. Recording alerts for a child and family
• xiii. Providing adoption services
• xiv. The video taping or recording of departmental staff
• xv. Recording sensitive clients
• xvi. Downgrading or deleting an approved notification
• Resources

i. Decision-making about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Purpose

This procedure outlines the process for decision-making about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and informs practice in relation to the key principles and concepts that underpin departmental intervention with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Authority

• Child Protection Act 1999, section 6

Introduction

Due to the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to departmental intervention and the impact of past government policy, the government is responsible and committed to making all decisions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in active collaboration with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Under the Child Protection Act 1999, section 6, the department is required to work with a recognised entity when making all decisions about an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child.

This requires either providing the recognised entity with the opportunity to participate in all significant decisions, or consulting with the recognised entity on all other decisions.

The Child Protection Act 1999, section 6, reflects the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in child protection decision-making to ensure that:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children receive culturally appropriate and inclusive child protection services;
• the department delivers these services in a collaborative manner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations; and
• effective efforts are made to address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system.

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Key concepts

Decisions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children made by the department are described in the legislation as 'significant decisions' and 'decisions other than significant decisions'.

Consultation with a recognised entity

Under the Child Protection Act 1999, section 6(2), any decision other than a significant decision, requires the department to consult with the recognised entity before the decision is made.

Departmental officers will refer to available statewide and local protocols for decision-making with recognised entities for further guidance.

Significant decisions

The Child Protection Act 1999, section 6(6), defines a significant decision about an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child as one that is likely to have a significant impact on the child's life.

What constitutes a significant decision about an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child is outlined below, however, each child's situation needs to be carefully considered. Each Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and family is unique, therefore the CSO will need to exercise professional judgment in determining what decisions are significant for individual children.

Defining significant decisions

1. Intake

A recognised entity must be given an opportunity to be involved in the decision-making with regard to any intervention planned as a response to child protection concerns received about an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child (for example, pre-notification checks, notification, or referral to a family support service).

2. Investigation and assessment

A recognised entity must be given an opportunity to be involved in the decision-making with regard to the investigation and assessment of child protection concerns received about an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child. This specifically relates to:

• the investigation and assessment planning process;
• involvement in the contact with the child and family, including completion of the safety assessment and, if required, the development of a safety plan; and
• the decision about whether a child is in need of protection and the type of ongoing intervention that will occur including referral to a family support service.

Where the cultural identity of the subject child is not known prior to commencing the investigation and assessment, and it is subsequently established that a subject child is either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, a recognised entity must be contacted as soon as possible about the decision-making processes that have occurred.

3. SCAN System

Where a matter has satisfied the mandatory and the departmental referral criteria, and prior to making the referral to a SCAN AM Team for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, a recognised entity must be given the opportunity to be involved in the decision-making process.

The recognised entity is a core member of the SCAN System in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and their participation in decision-making with regard to SCAN System processes will occur in that forum once a referral is made. A recognised entity may also refer a matter to the SCAN AM Team.

4. Case planning

A recognised entity must be given an opportunity to be involved in the decision-making process related to case planning for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child. This includes:

• completion of the child and parental strengths and needs assessments;
• attendance at the family group meeting and/or the development of the child's case plan; and
• review of a child's case plan and development of a revised case plan, and referral to a family support service.

5. Court

A recognised entity must be given an opportunity to be involved in the decision-making with regard to any application for either an assessment order or child protection order for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child. This includes any application for:

• a TAO (or extension of a TAO);
• a CAO (or extension of a CAO); or
• a child protection order.

When the Court is exercising a power under the Child Protection Act 1999, it must take into account the views of the recognised entity. The department will provide clear information in affidavits or court material about the process undertaken with the recognised entity, and the views of the recognised entity. This should be filed, along with a Form 17, for each application.

6. Placement

A recognised entity must be given an opportunity to be involved in the decision-making with regard to any placement for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child by the department, such as where and with whom the child will live or any change of placement for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child.

7. Matters of concern

When the child protection concerns received relate to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child in out-of-home care and potentially constitute a matter of concern, a recognised entity must be given an opportunity to be involved in the decision-making process with regard to:

• the appropriate departmental response, either a child placement concern report or a notification;
• the assessment plan for the matter of concern;
• the decision about whether there has been a breach of the standards of care and/or harm or risk of harm to a child; and
• the development of the action plan, where a breach of the standards has occurred.

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Opportunity to participate in the decision-making process

To ensure that the department makes decisions in the best interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, the department needs to take into account cultural and family issues specific to each child's family and community.

The Child Protection Act 1999, section 6(1), requires that, when making a significant decision about an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, the recognised entity must be given the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. This requirement reflects the importance for the department to work in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community when making decisions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Departmental officers must ensure that the recognised entity for the child is informed about, and invited to be involved in decisions that are likely to have a significant impact for the child.

To help ensure the department meets its obligations to provide the recognised entity with an opportunity to participate in the decision-making process, departmental officers will refer to/consider the following steps.

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Before making the decision

Before making the decision, the CSO will:

• comply with available statewide and/or local protocols for working with recognised entities;
• provide adequate information to the recognised entity about the decision/s to be made, in a timely way;
• undertake sufficient pre-planning to enable the fullest participation of the recognised entity;
• issue timely invitations, where practicable, to the recognised entity, to enable their participation;
• provide the most appropriate forum for the recognised entity to express their views and provide advice; and
• allow the recognised entity to have input into how they prefer to participate in the decision-making process.

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During the decision-making process

During the decision-making process, the CSO will:

• provide a respectful, culturally appropriate and supportive forum for decision-making and discussions with the recognised entity;
• elicit the views of the recognised entity;
• clarify the decisions to be made, and the roles and responsibilities of the department in the process;
• enable the recognised entity, where appropriate, to have input into the process in their preferred manner;
• conduct the process in a way that is respectful of, and appropriate to, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocols and traditions; and
• follow available departmental protocols for resolving differences with the recognised entity.

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Following the decision

Following the decision, the CSO will:

• ensure that when the department does not follow the recommendation or advice of the recognised entity, that a clear rationale is documented; and
• clarify the roles and responsibilities of the department and the recognised entity.

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Recording

Details of consultation with, and the participation of, a recognised entity will be recorded in either the 'Recognised entity participation form' or the 'Recognised entity participation/Child placement principle form' in ICMS.

The written case plan for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child will document the role and responsibilities of the department and the recognised entity in relation to the participation of the recognised entity in day-to-day case decision-making processes.

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© The State of Queensland (Department of Child Safety) 2008.

Queensland Government