“That’ll never happen because we don’t want white people to raise our kids”: Experiences of First Nations People in the New South Wales Out-of-Home Care System
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2024
Embargoed
| Filename | Description | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thesis.pdf | thesis | 20.5 MB |
Copyright Clearance Process
- Recently Added
- In Progress
- Open Access
This item is currently unavailable due to the publisher's embargo.
European colonisation continues to affect the lives, families, structures, and knowledges of First Nations people across the myriad Countries that comprise Australia. We have lost children as a result of the assimilation policies and practices that have been in operation since invasion, most infamously with the “Stolen Generations” of the 20th century. To protect First Nations children’s rights to culture in out-of-home care (OOHC) contexts, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) is written into legislation or policy in all states and territories.
This thesis seeks to prioritise the unique experiences of OOHC for First Nations people involved in the system. Using a qualitative approach of semi-structured interviewing underpinned by Indigenous standpoint theory and constructivist grounded theory. There is the presentation of thirty-seven lived experiences of who have involvement in the New South Wales OOHC system. The findings illustrate tension and incompatibility between the ATSICPP, with its implied obligation to enact policies and practices that maintain children’s cultural connections, and the actual priorities and philosophies of placement implemented by government departments with OOHC responsibilities. When departmental policies fail to account for First Nations knowledges and models of care that would improve decision-making by communities, their care settings increase the likelihood of misunderstanding or misappropriation of culture and connection during OOHC.
This thesis articulates the critical importance of reconceptualising models of care and placements that are culturally appropriate and that develop communities rather than pull them apart. The findings show that First Nations peoples support the placement of First Nations children by and with their own people to assist them to maintain cultural connection, kinship and relationality. There is no easy way to do this in an OOHC placement system that is designed to culturally disconnect and remove children from the collective through permanent placements away from culture and Country. A case study of a successful model of OOHC within community is presented in this thesis.
The title of this thesis includes the quotation “That’ll never happen because we don’t want white people to raise our kids” because the current system of state-imposed child removals and placements causes cultural loss and disconnection and must be corrected. Self-determination across all stages of OOHC and child protection, with the involvement of key Elders and community leaders, is paramount for ensuring positive and appropriate experiences of OOHC by First Nations people.
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: