Understanding family reunification and the systems that separate families
Aboriginal children are not returning home to their families following removal by Australian child protection systems. Generations of children are growing up disconnected from their family, culture and rightful identity.
Why the research is necessaryThe research contributes to significant impact across the child protection sector. It facilitates truth-telling for families silenced by the system, Aboriginal community-determined initiatives, and individual and system-level advocacy.
The research examines the systems that separate Aboriginal children from their families, as well as the ways Aboriginal families and communities resist, navigate and challenge these systems. Through this work, we are building evidence to support change and to strengthen pathways for keeping Aboriginal children connected to their families, communities, culture and Country.
A note about the words we useOn this website, we use restoration and reunification to describe the process of Aboriginal children returning home to their families from out-of-home care.
Restoration is the legal term used in New South Wales. Reunification is more commonly used across Australia and internationally.
We use both terms because they are used in different settings, but they describe the same process.
Research PhasesPhase 1: Charting the experiences, successful pathways, and outcomes of Aboriginal
Funded through an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Indigenous grant, Phase 1 advanced knowledge about child restoration by investigating the lived experiences, pathways and outcomes of Aboriginal parents whose children had been restored from out-of-home care.
Phase 2: Understanding systems abuse and Aboriginal resistance in child protection contexts (2026-2030)
Funded through an NHMRC Investigator Grant, Phase 2 builds on the findings from Phase 1. Phase 2 examines how systems cause harm to Aboriginal children and families, and how Aboriginal families and communities resist, navigate and challenge these harms. It aims to build evidence about the health and wellbeing impacts of systems abuse and the ways Aboriginal people have resisted these harms.
Partnered with Aboriginal organisations across NSW
The research is undertaken in partnership with Aboriginal organisations across New South Wales.
These partnerships help ensure that the research is Aboriginal-led, community-controlled and grounded in the priorities, knowledge and experiences of Aboriginal communities.
