PRESS RELEASE: A GREAT START (WITH A LONG WAY TO GO) FOR THE ALBANESE GOVERNMENT

A GREAT START (WITH A LONG WAY TO GO)
FOR THE ALBANESE GOVERNMENT

CREATE congratulates the new Prime Minister of Australia, The Hon. Anthony Albanese MP, and the Australian Labor Party on the recent Federal election outcome.

CREATE welcomes and supports the initial demonstration of respect for First Nations people delivered by Prime Minister Albanese in his acceptance speech, identifying that this government will recognise and endorse all promises made as part of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Over 45,996* Australian children did not sleep in their own home last night and are presently growing up in out-of-home care. Children of First Nations families are significantly over-represented in care, comprising 42%1 of the current care population.

CREATE believes that any meaningful discussion about positively changing the lives of children and young people, including First Nations children within the child protection system, must be done by actively listening to the voices of children and young people with an out-of-home-care experience.

The current socio-political climate sees young people transitioning from the care system to adulthood without a safety net, and without adequate affordable housing. CREATE Foundation’s Chief Executive, Ms Jacqui Reed shared that “Housing affordability must be a top priority for this new government.”

“One way in which the Albanese Government can support some of Australia’s most vulnerable young people is to ensure that state and territory governments are held accountable for providing financial support and a place to live, for all young people transitioning from the out of home care system to adulthood, particularly in jurisdictions who are failing to provide this support.”

Furthermore, Ms Reed stated that “No government should expect young people at the tender age of 18 to live independently in a competitive market in the current environment.”

CREATE Foundation is the national consumer body representing the voices of children and young people with an out-of-home care experience (including kinship care, foster care and residential care). CREATE develops policy and research to report on and advocate for a better care system.

Read more on CREATE’s independent consultations here: https://create.org.au/research/
For more information please visit the CREATE website at www.create.org.au

For further comment from CREATE’s Chief Executive, Ms Jacqui Reed, and/or a young person with care experience contact Leigh White, CREATE Communications Advisor, via (m) 0431 932 122 or [email protected]

Key statistics on the care sector in Australia:
• 45,996 children and young people were reported in 2019-20 as living in out-of-home care across Australia (Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, 2021).*
• Of the children in long-term out-of-home care, 2 in 5 (42%)1 were Indigenous. Website: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/child-protection/child-protection-australia-2019-20/summary (accessed 1/6/22)
• Young people in out-of-home care are 16 times more likely to be under a youth justice order than the general population.
• 30% of young people experience homelessness within the first year of leaving care. (McDowall, J. J. (2020).
• 46% of males have been involved with the justice system since leaving care.
• 29% of young people who have left care or preparing to leave care are unemployed.
• 36% children and young people in care do not live with any of their siblings.
• 35% of young people in care have five or more caseworkers during their time in care.
• 67% of young people in care over the age of 15 are not aware of having a leaving care plan.
McDowall, J. J. (2018). Out-of-home care in Australia: Children and young people’s views after five years of National Standards. Sydney: CREATE Foundation.