Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Wednesday 17 May
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
In 2008, when Kevin Rudd made his historic apology to the Stolen Generations of Indigenous Australians, he envisaged ‘a future where this parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.’
Since that speech, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care has surged by an appalling 65 per cent. Today there are more than 15,000 Indigenous kids living in out-of-home care; they are nine times more likely than non-Indigenous kids to be removed from their parents.
We’ll explore the attitudes and policies that lead to child removals, and the thinking behind these practices. How does systemic discrimination lead to child removal? How are Indigenous leaders shaping the conversation and bringing change? Join us for a discussion of a critical issue for all Australians.
Presented in partnership with the Family Matters campaign.
Featuring
Natalie Lewis
Natalie Lewis is a descendant of the Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) Nation and is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP).
Her professional experience has been called upon in Queensland and in the US in the areas of youth justice and child protection, providing direct service, program and policy development and organisational leadership over the past 20 years.
Natalie currently serves on the National Executive of SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, and is co-chair of the National Family Matters Campaign. She also holds appointments on the Qld Domestic and Family Violence Implementation Council, Youth Sexual Violence and Abuse Steering Committee and the Queensland Policy Leaders Forum. She was an active member of the Expert Advisory Group to the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry and remains strongly involved in the implementation of the reform agenda.
Andrew Jackomos
Andrew Jackomos is a proud Yorta Yorta/Gunditjmara man and was appointed in July 2013 as the inaugural Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People in Victoria.
As Commissioner, Andrew is responsible for advocating for and overseeing the provision of state government services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, particularly the most vulnerable in the areas of child protection, youth justice and homelessness.
Andrew has recently completed two landmark inquiries: Always Was Always Will Be Koori Children, an inquiry into the Victorian protection system and interaction, with close to 1000 Koori children across Victoria; and In the Child’s Best Interests, an inquiry into the Victorian child protection system’s compliance with the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle.
For the previous 14 years Andrew was an Executive Officer in the Victorian Department of Justice and led development of the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement. During his time at Justice, Andrew is most proud of the relationship developed between the Koori community and the Justice system, as represented by the Aboriginal Justice Forum and the supporting network of Regional Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committees.
Andrew is a member of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples and the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Forum and Aboriginal Children’s Forum. In 2006, he was awarded the Public Service Medal and admitted as a Victorian Fellow with the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA). In 2013, he was appointed as an IPAA National Fellow.
Muriel Bamblett
Professor Muriel Bamblett is a proud Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja woman and one of Australia’s leading experts on Aboriginal child welfare. She has been Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency since 1999.
Muriel has long been an active advocate for having Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people engaged and involved in the issues that affect them. She’s worked tirelessly to ensure the children in these communities maintain a strong connection with their cultural identity.
She was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2004 Australia Day Honours for her services to the community, particularly through leadership in the provision of services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
She has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Centenary of Federation Medal; the 2003 Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership in the Field of Child and Family Welfare; the Women’s Electoral Lobby Inaugural Vida Goldstein Award; and in 2011, was inducted into the 2011 Victorian Honour Roll of Women and was a finalist for a Human Rights Medal with the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Mat Tinkler
Mat Tinkler is Director Policy and Public Affairs and International Programs at Save the Children. He has the dual responsibility for delivering International Programs, primarily focused on the Asia-Pacific region, along with ensuring that Save the Children is a strong voice for vulnerable children with government policy makers, in the media and the Australian community.
In the region, priority areas include education, health and nutrition, child protection and humanitarian response. Domestically, key areas are juvenile justice, early childhood education - particularly in indigenous communities – and asylum seekers and refugees, which is informed by our work on Nauru. Our Public Affairs department includes advocacy and campaigns, media, communications, and government relations.
Previously, Mat has worked as a Chief of Staff to a senior Cabinet Minister with the Federal Government, overseeing a diverse range of portfolios covering taxation law; superannuation and financial services regulation; consumer credit; charity and not-for-profit regulation; insurance reforms; workplace relations and disability reform. Prior to his role at Save the Children he was acting executive director for the Public Law Clearing House, an organisation that focuses on providing legal services to the most disadvantaged Australians.
Mat began his career as a corporate lawyer at Minter Ellison.