Care for an Aboriginal child

At Lutheran Community Care, we are committed to reconciliation and improving outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.

We provide training, assessment and ongoing support for foster carers that are interested in, or already are, caring for an Aboriginal child or young person.

We support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Child Placement Principle for all children in out-of-home care, including foster care, and recognise the importance of building children's identities through connection to culture.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle

The fundamental goal of the principle is to enhance and preserve Aboriginal children's connection to family and community, with a strong sense of identity and culture.

The principle recognises the importance of connections to family, community, culture and country in child and family welfare legislation, policy and practice, and asserts that self-determining communities are central to supporting and maintaining those connections.

The principle aims to:

• ensure an understanding that culture underpins and is integral to safety and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and is embedded in policy and practice;
• recognise and protect the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, family members and communities in child welfare matters;
• increase the level of self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in child welfare matters; and
• reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection and out-of-home care systems. (From SNAICC’s “The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: A Guide to Support Implementation”)