The Family is Culture review report 2019 speaks to the experiences of First Nations children and young people, their families and their communities, as they navigate the NSW child protection system. The NSW Government considered the recommendations made in the report. This includes 125 recommendations to the way the government delivers services and over 3,000 recommendations referring to specific children and young people.

Key Findings:

• NSW has one of the lowest rates of Aboriginal children entering Out Of Home Care (OOHC) across Australia. This was shown in the Productivity Commission’s 2020 Report on Government Services. Although these results are promising, the NSW Government recognises that they need to do more.
• In order to drive implementation of recommendations, the NSW Government will establish a new Aboriginal Outcomes Taskforce. This taskforce will work alongside Aboriginal communities and stakeholders to implement recommendations relating to improved data collection and reporting, stronger casework policy and practice, enhanced services and supports for Aboriginal families and better interagency coordination.
• The NSW Government will identify the characteristics of Aboriginal parents who are the subject of prenatal risk of significant harm notifications; this will include the numbers and reasons for high risk birth alerts and pre-entry to care casework completed with Aboriginal mothers in the prenatal period.