The Department for Child Protection and Family Support in Western Australia adopted the Signs of Safety in 2007 as its child protection framework. In Western Australia, while Aboriginal people make up 5% of the population, almost 50% of children in the WA care system are indigenous.
This over-representation is undoubtedly a legacy of colonisation that needs to be tackled. CPFS is working to target and strengthen its use of Signs of Safety to improve its response and engagement with Aboriginal families. As part of this work, they have recently released a 30-minute film called Keeping Children Front and Centre: A Signs of Safety Approach.
CPFS wants to make this video available internationally, hoping it will inspire others on the journey of tackling the issues of a western child protection system in engaging with aboriginal cultures.