Share and Follow
In brief
- Racism is consistently experienced in children’s protective systems, an advocate says.
- First Nations children represent an outsized percentage of all children in care in SA.
Systems intended to safeguard children require thorough examination if we are to make meaningful progress against racism, according to a leading advocate.
In a detailed submission to a federal inquiry investigating racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Shona Reid, South Australia’s guardian for children and young people, emphasized that for children, racism is rarely a one-time event.
“Racism is something they encounter repeatedly, influencing how they interact with various systems, navigate through them, and where they ultimately find themselves,” Reid explained.
She highlighted that the insights gained from oversight reveal not isolated incidents but a consistent pattern of cumulative harm.
The ongoing inquiry aims to explore the extent, effects, and root causes of racism, hate, and violence, while also assessing current responses and identifying opportunities for reform.
Reid writes that if it was to meaningfully address racism, it must look closely at the systems that exercise the greatest power over First Nations children and young people’s lives.
Government data from 2025 shows that despite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children accounting for only 5.5 per cent of young people in SA, they represented 37.9 per cent of all children in care, and 39.8 per cent of all children in out-of-home care.
“It is within these systems that racism is most consistently experienced and where reform has the greatest potential to change the trajectory of a child’s life,” she said.
Recognising this is a call to examine the architecture of the system itself, Reid writes.
“Without this, efforts to address racism will remain focused on surface-level change, while the underlying structures that produce inequity remain intact.”
The parliamentary inquiry into racism directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will take evidence at a hearing in Adelaide on Friday.
Witnesses will include Reid, SA commissioner for Aboriginal children and young people Dale Agius, and representatives from the SA Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Network, NPY Women’s Council, and the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.