Melbourne (Fitzroy)
From the beginning, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were placed into care outside of their families and communities after they had been taken away. In response to this, collective action among Indigenous communities resulted in the formation of Aboriginal and Islander Care Care Agencies (AICCA) which sought to reduce the rates at which their children were being removed and to maintain connections between children and their cultures, families and communities. AICCAs began emerging in the 1970s and this time marked the beginning of political activism and community resistance that achieved substantial changes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle grew from these grassroots movements and the Principle seeks to ensure that children are kept "connected to their family, community, culture and country" whenever possible. Over time, the Principle has been incorporated into the legislation and policies of all states and territories in Australia. AICCAs and many other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child care and community agencies are represented by the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC).
C. Tilbury, J. Burton, E. Sydenham, R. Boss and T. Louw, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: Aims and Cor eElements (SNAICC, 2013), 7.
Linda Briskman, The Black Grapevine: Aboriginal Activism and the Stolen Generations (The Federation Press, 2003), 39.
Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies