Social Work - Research Publications
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 5 of 5
-
ItemNo Preview AvailableIdentifying and dismantling racism in Australian perinatal settings: Reframing the narrative from a risk lens to intentionally prioritise connectedness and strengths in providing care to First Nations families*(ELSEVIER, 2023-02)INTRODUCTION: The perinatal period is a time when provision of responsive care offers a life course opportunity for positive change to improve health outcomes for mothers, infants and families. Australian perinatal systems carry the legacy of settler-colonialism, manifesting in racist events and interactions that First Nations parents encounter daily. OBJECTIVE: The dominance of a western risk lens, and conscious and unconscious bias in the child protection workforce, sustains disproportionately high numbers of First Nations infants being removed from their parents' care. Cascading medical interventions compound existing stressors and magnify health inequities for First Nations women. DESIGN: Critical discourse was informed by Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing via targeted dialogue with a group of First Nations and non-Indigenous experts in Australian perinatal care who are co-authors on this paper. Dynamic discussion evolved from a series of yarning circles, supplemented by written exchanges and individual yarns as themes were consolidated. RESULTS: First Nations maternity services prioritise self-determination, partnership, strengths and communication and have demonstrated positive outcomes with, and high satisfaction from First Nations women. Mainstream perinatal settings could be significantly enhanced by embracing similar principles and models of care. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The Australian Anti-racism in Perinatal Practice (AAPP) Alliance calls for urgent transformations to Australian perinatal models of care whereby non-Indigenous health policy makers, managers and clinicians take a proactive role in identifying and redressing ethnocentrism, judgemental and culturally blind practices, reframing the risk narrative, embedding strength-based approaches and intentionally prioritising engagement and connectedness within service delivery.
-
ItemCommunity views on 'Can perinatal services safely identify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents experiencing complex trauma?'(WILEY, 2023-01)Abstract Family and extended kinship systems which nurture healthy, happy children are central to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Since colonisation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have been impacted by intergenerational cycles of trauma, stemming from colonial violence, genocidal policies and discrimination, including the forced removal of children from their families. Becoming a parent offers a unique life‐course opportunity for trauma recovery and preventing intergenerational trauma. However, identifying or ‘recognising’ complex trauma carries significant risk of harm for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents due to reactive prenatal child protection involvement potentially compounding experiences of trauma, and limited benefits due to lack of culturally appropriate support. The Aboriginal‐led participatory Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future project aims to co‐design safe, accessible and feasible perinatal awareness, recognition, assessment and support strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents experiencing complex trauma. This paper presents views of 38 workshop participants to determine prerequisites for ensuring benefits outweigh risks of assessment to safely recognise parents experiencing complex trauma, consistent with screening criteria. Six essential elements were identified from thematic analysis: high‐quality holistic care; cultural, social and emotional safety; empowerment, choice and control; flexible person‐centred approaches; trusting relationships; and sensitive, skilled communication. Key Practitioner Messages The impacts of colonisation and rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait children in out‐of‐home care mean that there can be a myriad of issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents with regard to perinatal child protection involvement. The benefits must outweigh the risks of identifying parents experiencing complex trauma. Assessment must be offered within foundations of supportive relationships and holistic care in culturally‐safe, empowering settings, where choices are respected and skilled communication approaches are used.
-
ItemSupporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families to Stay Together from the Start (SAFeST Start): Urgent call to action to address crisis in infant removals COMMENT(WILEY, 2022-06)Reducing the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care (OOHC) is a key Closing the Gap target committed to by all Australian governments. Current strategies are failing. The "gap" is widening, with the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in OOHC at 30 June 2020 being 11 times that of non-Indigenous children. Approximately, one in five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children entering OOHC each year are younger than one year. These figures represent compounding intergenerational trauma and institutional harm to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities. This article outlines systemic failures to address the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents during pregnancy and following birth, causing cumulative harm and trauma to families, communities and cultures. Major reform to child and family notification and service systems, and significant investment to address this crisis, is urgently needed. The Family Matters Building Blocks and five elements of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (Prevention, Participation, Partnership, Placement and Connection) provide a transformative foundation to address historical, institutional, well-being and socioeconomic drivers of current catastrophic trajectories. The time for action is now.
-
ItemNo Preview AvailableWho is analysing what? The opportunities, risks and implications of using predictive risk modelling with Indigenous Australians in child protection: A scoping review(WILEY, 2021-06)Abstract Predictive risk modelling using administrative data is increasingly being promoted to tackle complex social policy issues, including the risk of child maltreatment and recurring involvement with child protection systems. This paper discusses opportunities and risks concerning predictive risk modelling with administrative datasets to address Indigenous Australian overrepresentation in Australian child protection systems. A scoping review using five databases, and the Google search engine, examined peer‐reviewed and grey literature on risks associated with predictive risk models (PRMs) for racial and ethnic populations in child protection systems, such as Indigenous Australians. The findings revealed a dearth of research, especially considering Indigenous populations. Although PRMs have been developed for Australian child protection systems, no empirical research was found in relation to Indigenous Australians. The implications for utilising administrative data to address Indigenous Australian overrepresentation are discussed, focusing on methodological limitations of predictive analytics, and notions of fairness and bias. Participatory model development, transparency and Indigenous data sovereignty are crucial to ensure the development of fair and unbiased PRMs in Australian child protection systems. Yet, while PRMs may offer substantial benefits as decision support tools, significant developments – which fully include Indigenous Australians – are needed before they can be used with Indigenous Australians.
-
ItemMore questions than answers: a focus on reunification for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care, in The Family Matters Report 2020(SNAICC, 2020-11-16)The disproportionate rate of entry into out-of-home care (OOHC) is well documented for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and youth throughout Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2020a; Lewis et al 2019). However, less is known about children and youth who exit out-of-home care by returning to the care of their parents or former carers. This special report reviews the literature, and the publicly available data for 2018-19, about reunification for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and non-Indigenous children in out-of-home care systems. It was found that in 2018-19, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were less likely to have case plans that included reunification as a possibility compared to non-Indigenous children, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were also less likely to be reunified with family compared to non-Indigenous children. Reunification rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were highest in Victoria, however, entry to care rates were also highest in Victoria compared to other states and territories. Except for the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia, once reunified, there was no marked difference between rates of re-entry to care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children compared to non-Indigenous children. Examination of differences in reunification patterns across states and territories were also limited by the low numbers of children reunified in some states and territories (such as the Northern Territory), as well as absent data from New South Wales and Queensland. Ultimately, questions concerning reunification casework practices across the nation remain, while reunification data from 2018-19 has generated more questions than answers.