The Child Protection Act 1999, also requires Child Safety, in consultation and with the consent of the child and their family, to arrange an independent Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander entity for the child (known as an “independent person”) to facilitate the child’s and family’s participation in decision-making processes:
Where a significant decision is made and consultation with the family was not possible, the relevant CSSC or CSAHSC is responsible for advising the family of the decision as soon as practicable.
Where cultural advice is required to inform decision-making, planning or case work at any point from the decision to record a notification for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, consult with one or more of the following:
For further information about working with a child and family to arrange an independent person, refer to the practice resource: Working with an independent person. For further information about Child Safety staff working in a culturally capable way, refer to the practice resource: Culturally capable behaviours Culturally capable behaviours .
The Child Protection Act 1999, schedule 3, defines a significant decision about an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child as one that is likely to have a significant impact on the child's life.
Child Safety staff will consider the following as key ‘significant decisions’ for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child:
There may be additional matters that are significant for an individual child, taking into account issues specific to them, their family and community. Use professional judgment and knowledge of the child’s circumstances to determine what decisions are significant for a child and respond accordingly.
For ease of reference, a poster for CSSC staff has been developed which lists significant decisions and how to record the ‘Independent entity’ form in ICMS. Refer to Information for staff: Significant decisions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people . For further information about the ‘Independent entity’ form refer 2.3.Complete the independent entity form.
In addition to facilitating participation in decisions defined as ‘significant’, the child or the child’s family may choose to have an independent person facilitate the child and family’s participation in any decision under the Child Protection Act 1999 where they consider it would help them participate in the decision making process.
Also, a pregnant woman and the unborn child’s family may have an independent person help facilitate their participation in an investigation and assessment prior to the birth of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, refer to What if a matter involves an Aboriginal or Torres Strait islander unborn child?
For further information about the legislative requirements that impact on working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, refer to the practice resource: Legislative provisions in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children .
To be an independent Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander entity (independent person) for a child, the entity must be:
In addition, Child Safety must be satisfied that the independent person must either:
Child Safety must also be satisfied that they are a suitable person to be an independent person.
As children and families are the best source of information regarding their own kin and community, where a child and family nominates an individual to be an independent person, Child Safety will be informed about whether the individual is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person by the child, family and the individual. In certain circumstances, a non-Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person may meet the criteria for being an independent person – refer to What if the child and family want an individual who is not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander to be their independent person?
In addition, Child Safety will be satisfied that the following criteria has been met, when the child, family and the person nominated advise that they are satisfied it has been met:
For ease of reference, a poster for CSSC staff outlining who can be an independent person has been developed. Refer to Information for staff: Who can be an independent person for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and/or family?
The steps outlined below will assist workers to meet the obligation to arrange an independent person, in consultation and with the consent of the child and their family, each time a significant decision is to be made.
When making a significant decision for a child, advise the child and their parents:
When the child and family agree to have an independent person, arrange for the independent person, by:
To ensure the child and family can have an independent person support their participation in decision-making throughout the duration of Child Safety’s involvement, a child and family may choose to nominate multiple people who they wish to be an independent person. Where the family identifies people in advance, it will enable CSSC staff to contact the nominated people and determine their suitability prior to the child and family requiring their assistance. This aims to maximise flexibility for the child and family and the instances in which their participation in decisions is support by an independent person and negate the need to delay decisions for the purpose of arranging an independent person.
When the child and family nominate someone to be their independent person, confirm whether the child and family wish to approach the person about the role in the first instance or prefer Child Safety to do so. Once the initial contact with the nominated person has been made, provide them with the following information to help them decide whether to take on the role:
When a child and family nominate someone who they believe meets the definition of an independent person, is suitable to be an independent person, and has the capacity to fulfil the role, take into account the following factors to determine the person’s suitability:
A senior team leader will decide a person’s suitability, taking into account the following sources of information:
Do not request a criminal or domestic and family violence history check on the person nominated. The Child Protection Act 1999 does not provide authority to seek this information for the purpose of determining the suitability of an independent person.
When information is identified in the person’s child protection history that may indicate the person is not suitable to take on the role, discuss the concerns with the person. Where the level of concern is not sufficiently reduced, based on information provided by the person, advise them and the child and family that the person is not considered suitable and record the decision and rationale in the ‘Independent entity’ form in ICMS.
Where a decision is made that a person is not suitable and the child and family or person nominated wishes to discuss the matter with a senior officer, provide them with details for contacting the CSSC Manager.
Where the independent person is to help the family to participate in a decision in the future and time allows, formally invite the independent person to the meeting using the Letter to the Independent person template, confirming details of the meeting, as agreed with the family and independent person, including the purpose of the meeting and a reminder of the role of an independent person and confidentiality requirements.
Where time does not allow for the letter to be sent, prior to the meeting inform the independent person of information contained in the letter template regarding their role, confidentiality requirements and the decision in which the child and family are participating.
Where an independent person has helped the child or family to participate, talk to the independent person and:
In addition, seek feedback from the child and family and the independent person about the decision-making process and, where relevant, future opportunities to enhance the child and family’s meaningful participation in decision-making.
For each significant decision regarding an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, record details of the child and family’s choice to have an independent person help facilitate their participation in the decision, whether a person who was nominated was suitable and whether they participated in the decision-making process, in the ‘Independent entity’ form in ICMS.
In addition, also complete the ‘Independent entity’ form for decisions about an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child that are not considered significant decisions, but where the child or family requested the assistance of an independent person to help facilitate their participation in the decision.
This will include:
Note: A client profile will not be created for an independent person. Where the person has an existing client profile related to another role, this will not be added to the relationship table in the event, unless doing so is relevant to the person’s other role and not their role as the independent person.
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