The Wire

Later this week, several peak Indigenous groups will gather in Brisbane to focus on issues for Indigenous people involved in criminal justice system. The Aboriginal Justice Advocacy Committees from various parts of the country will meet with the National Aboriginal and Islander Legal Services in an effort to develop partnerships that will help fill the gaps, post-ATSIC. But the forum will go beyond the current issues to address the causes, with the involvement of the national Indigenous childcare peak body. Muriel Bamblett, the head of the Secretariat for National Aboriginal and Islander Childcare, SNAICC, says it’s an important time for Indigenous groups to take a pro-active approach. She is also concerned about recent moves by the Queensland government to introduce legislation that would allow Aboriginal children in care to be permanently removed from their home community and live with non-Indigenous carers – a plan described by critics as creating a second stolen generation.