Years of inquiries, policy frameworks, and national commitments to reducing inequality, and yet Australia’s child protection system remains skewed, with First Nations children continuing to be removed from their families at profoundly disproportionate rates.
While political rhetoric often focuses on optimism and incremental progress, the statistical reality reveals a system where structural disadvantage and racial injustice continue to place Indigenous families under intense scrutiny and intervention.
The Disproportionate Reality in Numbers
According to the Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services 2026, First Nations children make up approximately 7 per cent of the national population aged 0 to 17 years. Yet, they account for nearly half of all children placed in out-of-home care.
As of 30 June 2025, there were 15,340 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in out-of-home care across Australia, representing 44 per cent of the total care population. In the Northern Territory, the disparity is even more severe: 733 First Nations children were in care, making up 89 per cent of the Territory’s entire out-of-home care cohort.
Concerningly, while the total number of all children in care has declined nationally in recent years, the proportion of First Nations children has persistently grown, rising from 42 per cent in 2020–21 to 44 per cent in 2024–25.
Policy Goals vs. System Performance
This trajectory sits in direct conflict with national policy objectives. Under the Closing the Gap agreement, Target 12 aims to reduce the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care by 45 per cent by 2031. However, current data indicates this target is actively worsening and is not on track to be met.
Advocates argue that optimism from political leaders must not replace accountability. The failure to meet Target 12 is a matter of system performance with devastating, real-world consequences for families.
Related story: Why Punitive Systems Are Failing First Nations Children and Communities
A Shift Towards Prevention and Community Leadership
Sustained change requires a decisive pivot away from reactive interventions. Experts and community leaders point to poverty, overcrowded housing, and systemic bias as the primary structural drivers of child removal. Addressing these issues requires investment in housing, health, education, and culturally grounded family support services.
Recent institutional developments offer some pathways for reform. The establishment of the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, led by Commissioner Sue Anne Hunter, provides independent oversight to hold governments accountable. Furthermore, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Plan to End Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence 2026 to 2036 addresses family violence—a key pathway into the child protection system, aiming to prevent harm so children can remain safely in their communities.
Truth-telling also remains a central component of reform. As Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss has highlighted, the legacy of the Stolen Generations continues to shape the child protection system today.
William Tilmouth, Co-Chair of Children’s Ground, recipient of the 2025 Human Rights Medal, and a survivor of the Stolen Generations, summarised the urgency of shifting power and resources directly to First Nations communities:
“The apology acknowledged the trauma of forced removal, yet our children continue to be separated from their families. Nearly half of all children in out of home care in this country are First Nations, while we are only a small fraction of the population. In the Northern Territory, almost every child in care is one of ours. That is a national failure.
Governments have had years of reports, inquiries and evidence. They know that poverty, overcrowded housing, underfunded services and systemic bias sit at the centre of these removals. Still, the response remains surveillance, intervention and removal, instead of investing in families before crisis takes hold.
If there is genuine commitment to change, then power must shift to our communities. Funding must go towards prevention. First Nations led services must be resourced. Children must be kept safe within family, culture and Country. Until that happens, the promise carried in the apology remains unfinished and our children continue to pay the price.”
Ritchelle is Content Team Manager at Akolade, producing stories for Australia's not-for-profit sector at Third Sector.
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