Preventing race and disability discrimination in child protection

We’re using the breadth of expertise from our different practice areas to enhance service delivery for our clients. Unfortunately, we know that many of our clients experience race and disability discrimination. That’s why we’ve developed and delivered training for our lawyers on the intersections between race and disability discrimination and the child protection system.

Discrimination in the child protection system

Recent findings in from Yoorrook Justice Commission and the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability addressed this issue. When considering the abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability they confirmed that parents and children continually experience individual and systemic discrimination in the child protection system.

Findings also included that Aboriginal people are:

• 7.6 times as likely to have a finalised investigation by child protection services.
• 8.5 times as likely to have an investigation substantiated
• 21.7 times as likely to be in out of home care.

Similarly, the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability found that the conflation of disability and risk is one of the most explicit forms of discrimination parents with disability face. They found systemic failures to provide disability and culturally safe and inclusive support services to parents.

Intersectional training

To upskill our lawyers and practice partners and encourage cross-practice referrals, our Child Protection and Equality Law Programs held a training session for lawyers on disability and race discrimination and child protection.

The training was designed to help lawyers identify areas of practice where discrimination might occur, and we invited staff, community legal centres and the private profession to attend.

The session included Jaclyn, a disability advocate and member of Victoria Legal Aid's lived-experience group Shared Experiences and Support (SEaS). She spoke of the child protection system and how she felt judged and mistreated due to having a disability.

'They thought I was a danger to my son because of my disability. They took us to court which was frightening. Luckily, I had a good lawyer and advocate who helped me win the case but we had to follow some court conditions.'

Jaclyn’s son is now in her full-time care and she works with other parents as a peer advocate.

'Now child protection services are no longer judging us as parents with a disability, but helping and working with us and listening to us instead.'

Our Equality Law Program lawyers explained that the law in this area is unsettled and explained how lawyers can make complaints on behalf of their clients to test the application of the law.

'Given the evidence of race and disability discrimination against parents and children in the child protection system, it’s important that lawyers can identify possible discrimination when it’s occurring and make referrals to our team so that we can provide them with legal advice and where appropriate representation. This is crucial to provide both access to justice and help families to remain together,' said Managing Lawyer Peter Reading from our Equality Law Program.

We encourage lawyers to make referrals to our Equality Law Program with potential cases of discrimination in the child protection system.

More information

Non-legal advocacy crucial in supporting parents with disability in child protection 

Read legal information about discrimination

Contact

For questions about the recording of the training and discrimination law generally please email Equality.Law@vla.vic.gov.au

For warm referrals to the Equality Law Program please contact Managing Lawyer Peter Reading peter.reading@vla.vic.gov.au

For questions about the child protection system please contact Associate Director Elicia Savvas in our Child Protection team elicia.savvas@vla.vic.gov.au