Abstract
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are disproportionately represented in all parts of the child protection system in Australia. The recruitment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners into child protection systems to work with Indigenous families at risk underpins the government strategy to reduce this over-representation. However, little is known about the experiences of Indigenous people who undertake child protection work or what their support and supervision needs may be. This research is centered on Indigenous Australian child protection practitioners as experts in their own experiences and as such includes large excerpts of their own narratives throughout. Practitioner narratives were collected via qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews. Critical theory and decolonising frameworks underpinned the research design. The study found that Indigenous child protection practitioners have a unique place in the families, communities and profession. Many viewed their work in the child protection field as an extension of their Indigeneity. This coupled with the historical experience of state-sanctioned removal of Indigenous children during colonisation and contemporarily, informs the need for child protection workplaces to re-think the support and supervision afforded to Indigenous practitioners.
Highlights
Child protection work is one of the most complex and demanding areas of social work and human services practice
The findings presented in this paper are a subset of findings from a larger study that explored the experiences of Indigenous child protection workers based in Queensland, Australia (Oates 2018)
The larger study relied on the research participants to answer the primary research question: what are the experiences of Indigenous child protection workers? This primary research question reflected the dearth of research related to the way in which Indigenous practitioners experience undertaking child protection work, in an Australian context
Summary
Child protection work is one of the most complex and demanding areas of social work and human services practice. Strait Islander people and communities have a deep sense of suspicion and distrust of social workers related to the role they played in the state-sanctioned forced removal of Indigenous children (Gilbert 1993; Harms et al 2011). This is of particular relevance when considering what role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners in the child protection service system have, what their experiences might be within this context and how best to support them. Discussion framed with a critical lens is woven throughout the paper
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