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(c) to the general principle that an Aboriginal child should be kept within the Aboriginalcommunity and a Torres Strait Islander child should be kept within the Torres Strait Islandercommunity.The ‘requirements of section 4’ are to be observed when dealing with all children.They are that the safety and best interests of the child must direct all decision makingunder the Act, that serious consideration be given to keeping a child within his or herfamily and neighbourhood, preserving their religious, cultural, racial and ethnic identityand, taking into account the child’s age and maturity, that serious consideration be givento his or her opinion, among other matters. Section 42 also places weight on preservingand enhancing a child’s racial and cultural identity.The order of placement preferences is set out in a departmental Practice Paper.• In the child’s home locality, with members of the extended family, or the same triballanguage group, or another Aboriginal family,• In a family group home or hostel run by an Aboriginal family, in the child’s homelocality for short term placements,• In a different locality, with members of the extended family, or the same tribal languagegroup, or another Aboriginal family,• In a foster home, family group home or hostel run by a non-Aboriginal family which issensitive to the special needs of Aboriginal children, preferably in the child’s home locality (Practice Paper December 1993 page 1).Indigenous children constitute less than 2% of all children in South Australia yetthey constitute around 8% of children about whom the department is ‘notified’ (that is,about whom it is alleged they have suffered abuse or neglect) each year, a fourfold overrepresentation.Notifications of SA Indigenous children1992-93 1993-94 1994-957.1% 8.2% 8.0%The extent of Aboriginal children’s over-representation increases with furtherinterventions after notification. Aboriginal children constitute 14% of departmental caseloads, 10% of substantiated abuse cases and 17% of children under the guardianship ofthe Minister (that is, State wards). As at June 1995 Aboriginal children constituted 17.1%of all children in substitute care.A study of Aboriginal children in long-term foster care in SA in 1988 found that atleast 25% of all children in this care were Aboriginal (although departmental recordsappeared incomplete). Just over one-half (54%) of Aboriginal children in long-term care