This year’s Family Matters report is the first to be published following the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which was entered into in July 2020. This report focuses on what actions need to be taken to address the over-representation and the outcomes of First Nations children in out-of-home care.

Genuine partnerships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and non Indigenous service providers are important to support an environment in which First Nations communities can work towards self-determination – the collective right of peoples to determine and control their own destiny.

This resource is designed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous organisations to consider and adopt partnership -centred approaches when applying for funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and family support services.

The over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care is a complex issue. This year’s report shows that Indigenous children continue to enter statutory child protection systems at a greater rate, stay longer, and exit via reunification or restoration far less frequently.