National commissioner for First Nations children gains independent powers

Australia’s new national watchdog for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people has been given independent statutory powers, in a move supporters say could shift long-standing failures in child protection and related systems from rhetoric to accountability.

The Senate has now passed legislation establishing the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People as a permanent statutory agency. The change matters because it moves the role beyond an executive office and into an independent body with clearer authority to conduct inquiries, undertake research and make formal recommendations about systems affecting First Nations children.

Supporters of the legislation say that independence is the central reform. National Commissioner Sue-Anne Hunter, a Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman, said the moment was “historic” because it meant the office could “hold systems to account” for the harm being experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Hunter has argued that such independence is essential precisely because governments run, fund and regulate the systems the commission will scrutinise.

The reform arrives against a background of persistent over-representation of First Nations children in out-of-home care and other systems, alongside repeated calls from sector organisations for a national body with real standing and staying power. The Parliamentary Library’s analysis of the bill said one of its core purposes was to drive greater accountability for government policies, programs and services that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. It also noted the new commission would be able to conduct inquiries and make written recommendations after examining systemic issues.

The legislation also reflects a campaign that has been building for years among Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and child and family advocates. SNAICC chief executive Catherine Liddle described the passage of the law as “a moment we have fought for over many years”, arguing that First Nations children need an authority that stands outside government and can publicly test whether commitments are actually being delivered.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy said the bill was developed with advice from more than 70 Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and responded to long-standing calls from communities. Reporting around the legislation has also linked it to recommendations dating back to the Bringing Them Home era, reinforcing that the new body is being framed not as a minor administrative change, but as part of a deeper unfinished reform agenda.

The real test now will be whether the commission’s powers translate into practical change. Passing the legislation is one step; using it to force better outcomes in child protection, justice, education and family support will be another. For advocates, however, the significance of this week’s development is clear: for the first time, there is a permanent national institution whose sole job is to speak for First Nations children from a position independent of the governments it may need to challenge.