The NSW ombud has heavily criticised the NSW Department of Communities & Justice (DCJ) for failing to be transparent about the ending of the Aboriginal Outcomes Strategy 2017-2021 (AOS), according to its new report.
The report focused on one of the strategy’s focus areas, reducing the number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care (OOHC).
The ombud found none of the four targets of the focus area was met, which was launched when the department was called the NSW Department of Family & Community Services.
Paul Miller, the NSW ombud, listed several issues with how the department dealt with the strategy.
“Our concern has been the failure of DCJ itself to report transparently on what it did to implement the strategy, and its failure to publicly report on the outcomes of the AOS, including whether and the extent to which the OOHC goal and its four associated targets were achieved,” Mr Miller said.
The ombud added as the department did not assess itself, the ombud had decided to independently assess the strategy’s outcomes.
“Agencies should not be criticised for setting ambitious but realistic targets,” the ombud said in the foreword.
“Nor should they necessarily be criticised even if they do not fully achieve those targets, provided the targets genuinely prompt and guide appropriate action, and where there is significant progress made toward them.
“However, when a strategy is launched and targets are set, at the very least the strategy should be delivered with appropriate governance and reporting against those targets.”
In response to the ombud’s findings, department secretary Michael Tidball said the department was continuing to work towards the targets on the OOHC through other initiatives since the AOS expired in 2021.
Some of the initiatives Tidball pointed to included the NSW Implementation Plan for Closing the Gap 2022-24 and the government’s commitment to the findings of the Family is Culture: Independent Review into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People in Out-of-Home Care in New South Wales.
“The NSW Government is progressing transitioning the case management of Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and the state-wide implementation of the Aboriginal Case Management Policy, and placing greater focus on restoration,” Tidball added.
The secretary added the four sub-targets had been publicly reported on as part of the department’s annual statistical report.
The ombud replied that even if the AOS had been superseded by other strategies, the decision to “abandon” the strategy should have been done “explicitly and transparently”.
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