Indigenous child removal in Victoria ‘highest since white settlement’ | Australia news | The Guardian

10.3.16

Indigenous child removal in Victoria ‘highest since white settlement’ | Australia news | The Guardian: Indigenous Australian children in Victoria are 16 times more likely than the state’s other children to be in out-of-home care, a report from the state’s Commission for Children and Young People tabled in parliament says.

“At current levels, the rate of Aboriginal child removal in Victoria exceeds that at any time since white settlement,” the report tabled on Thursday says.

“The Victorian rate of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care is now among the highest in Australia, and is significantly higher than comparable international jurisdictions.”

Of 6,500 children and young people placed away from their parents in Victoria, more than one in six were Indigenous Australians, with the number of Indigenous children in out-of-home care increasing by 9.5% a year compared with 5.3% a year for all children.

Aboriginal children make up just over 1% of the state’s children.