Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

or family level … There was much discussion about Anangu starting their own welfare servicebased on the lands (Uwankaraku Meeting Report 1995 page 9).The meeting set guidelines including,• Compulsory cross-cultural training for non-Aboriginal foster families.• Make plans for children with disabilities so everyone knows the story with families ontop, not foster families and Welfare.• More funds needed to make this work.• Disability ngura (supported accommodation) for children with disabilities on the lands.• Communities and Aboriginal organisations to take over more of the welfare role.• Welfare needs to help families to visit their children by paying for the trips (UwankarakuMeeting Report 1995 page 10).These guidelines reflect the needs of many Indigenous communities, particularlyremote communities or communities where disability facilities are not available. TheNSW Council for Intellectual Disability pointed out in a submission to the Inquiry theincoherent and confused law, policy and practice affecting children with disabilitieswhich have particularly negative effects on Indigenous children.Aboriginal children and young people with intellectual disability are in a position of doublejeopardy, being devalued not only on the basis of their disability, but also their Aboriginality.Where Aboriginal children and young people with disabilities originate from rural and remotecommunities they are multiply disadvantaged (submission 848 page 3).The Council noted the low participation rate of Aboriginal people in disabilityservices and suggested this may lead to inappropriate welfare intervention being the onlysupport available (page 5). The Council also noted that Indigenous children easilydisappear into long-term non-Indigenous residential care without being detected. Othermatters raised included the failure of services under the Disability Services Act 1993(NSW) to cater for Aboriginal children. The Act has established service principles whichinclude the requirement to meet the needs of persons with disabilities who experienceadditional disadvantage including Aboriginal people to ‘recognise the importance ofpreserving family relationships and the cultural and linguistic environments of personswith disabilities’ and to establish transition plans where these needs are not met.However, the Council has reviewed several hundred of the 850 transition plans developedfor specialist disability services and not a single plan addresses reunion of Aboriginalchildren with their families or takes steps to establish plans for substitute carearrangements for Aboriginal children with their family or community (submission 848 page10).In practice the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle appears to have only limitedapplication for Indigenous children with disabilities. This situation urgently needs to be