Aboriginal Case Management Policy
A policy that is holistic, culturally responsive, and embeds the values and perspectives of Aboriginal people.
Strengthening Our Families through an Aboriginal Case Management Policy
The Aboriginal Case Management Policy (ACMP) is designed for caseworkers and practitioners working with Aboriginal children, young people, and families. Developed through an engagement process involving Aboriginal communities, AbSec, the Department of Communities and Justice, and other key stakeholders, the ACMP aims to achieve safety and wellbeing for vulnerable Aboriginal children and young people by keeping them with or returning them to their family and community, connected to their culture. It is holistic, culturally responsive, and embeds the values and perspectives of Aboriginal people.
The ACMP and its accompanying Rules and Practice Guidance provide case management tailored to the needs of Aboriginal children and families, commencing early in the continuum of support. It aims to empower and support families and communities, reduce the incidence of harm, address identified risks, and support Aboriginal children and young people to thrive.
AbSec and DCJ have completed the first stage of implementing the ACMP. This stage includes establishing an Implementation Committee, initially evaluating individual districts’ capacity, readiness, and potential barriers and solutions to support the ACMP implementation, and developing key resources for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs), organisations, caseworkers, and practitioners. These resources include frameworks, fact sheets, case studies, and an eLearning package.
Understanding the Aboriginal Case Management Policy
Principles of the Aboriginal Case Management Policy
Quality Aboriginal Case Management practices that:
- Are child-focused to promote child safety and well-being
- Facilitate Aboriginal family-led decision-making
- Value community involvement, including self-determination and advocacy
- Are culturally embedded
- Deliver holistic services tailored to the needs of Aboriginal children and families
- Are oriented to prevent harm and preserve families
- Are accountable to Aboriginal communities for the outcomes achieved for Aboriginal children and their families
Elements of the Aboriginal Case Management Policy
The ACMP contains four core elements:
Aboriginal Family-led Decision Making
A series of processes that are engaged early in the continuum of support, ensuring participation of families and communities in decisions and actions affecting them. The core elements of Aboriginal Family-led decision making include:
- an Aboriginal Community facilitator
- family as key decision making partners
- family made ‘family plans’
- follow up efforts
Pro-active Efforts Standard
The element means that practitioners take meaningful and all possible steps to actively support families to address risks that are threatening the separation of a child from their family.
Practitioners demonstrate and document when the pro-active standard.
Aboriginal Family-led Assessments
Practitioners prioritise culturally valid assessment tools to identify and clarify the concerns related to the risk assessment.
They will work through a cultural lens and are supported by Aboriginal practitioners where possible.
Aboriginal Community Controlled Mechanisms
These unique approaches consist of a formal structure or process established by a local Aboriginal community through their own processes to represent the interests of the community.
They oversee decision-making processes affecting Aboriginal children, their families and communities.
Aboriginal Case Management Policy introductory training
For a more comprehensive exploration, the ACMP Introductory Training is available as an interactive short course, providing an in-depth look at the ACMP and the role of a caseworker within it. This course identifies key practice approaches and the importance of self-determination when supporting Indigenous children and their communities.
Aboriginal Continuum of Support
The ACMP introduces the Aboriginal Continuum of Support, aimed at achieving the safety of an Aboriginal child before removal is required. It uses a series of early, holistic, and tailored interventions to ensure that the needs of children are met quickly and effectively in a culturally safe way. The continuum is broken into three levels of intervention based on timing and intensity, targeting intervention to correspond to the level of risk, safety, and care required for each child.
What You Told Us - Aboriginal case management policy consultations, 2017
This report presents an overview of the key themes arising from stakeholder consultations
regarding the development of an Aboriginal Case Management Policy and Guidelines.
Aboriginal Case Management Policy workshop report, 2017
The purpose of this workshop was to establish concepts, principles and directions for an Aboriginal Case Management Policy across the care spectrum, inclusive of the values and perspectives of Aboriginal people.
Development of an Aboriginal Case Management Policy and Guidelines: Survey Responses, 2017
This paper highlights the key themes raised through completion of AbSec’s Aboriginal Case Management Policy survey. This survey was intended to provide an additional avenue for participation, in addition to the series of direct consultations conducted in various areas.
