It is the right of every Australian child to have a happy, healthy and safe childhood. The best interests of children are a national priority and a national responsibility.
The Australian Government is firmly committed to improving the wellbeing and life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children through the Closing the Gap initiative of the Council of Australian Governments. We have set ambitious targets for Closing the Gap and are implementing sweeping policy reforms to tackle entrenched problems of disadvantage.
We cannot do this without a genuine investment in long-term evidence-based research. Our priorities are supported by Footprints in Time—the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. Studies such as Footprints in Time are invaluable resources to contribute to policy and program development.
Collecting longitudinal data enables us to build a comprehensive picture over time, giving us detailed insight into how we can support Indigenous children to grow into healthy, positive and strong adults.
Footprints in Time is collecting information about the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in areas such as children’s health, learning and development, family and community relationships, culture and identity, and community issues and services. For Wave 1, the Footprints in Time team interviewed parents and carers of 1,687 Indigenous children aged between six months and five years, from 11 sites around Australia; from Adelaide to Broome, Dubbo to Darwin, Nowra to Thursday Island.
The results from Wave 1 highlight the importance of family and community. Footprints in Time parents want their kids to grow up knowing who their family is and where they come from, having a sense of belonging to their community and country. The results also highlight the value of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in building children’s self-esteem and identity. As one of the Footprints in Time parents said, having a strong sense of identity, knowing about her background and culture, will help her child feel confident and grow up being empowered and proud of who she is. As another of the parents put it, she wants her daughter to have choices in life, make her own decisions and create her own destiny.
By collecting information on the early lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children we will be better able to understand how to give them the best start in life.
All parents want the best for their children. Footprints in Time parents want their children to get a good education and have the opportunity for a good career, as well as being healthy, happy, independent and successful in whatever they choose to do in their lives.
I hope policy makers and researchers will find this report valuable in their work as we develop policy and programs to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Thank you to all the children, mums, dads and carers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, community Elders, leaders and teachers, who have shared their stories with us, to build a brighter future for all our children.
The Hon Jenny Macklin
Minister for Families, Housing,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs