西澳面临儿童安全危机 社区主导方案或可纾解

西澳大利亚州正在应对一场严重的儿童安全危机。12022年南赫德兰地区发生三名儿童死亡事件，1随后暴露出大量儿童在无成人监护的恶劣条件下生活的问题。12024-25年间，西澳共有12529名儿童成为儿童保护调查对象，其中约41%为第一民族儿童。1这一危机并非近期才浮现——原住民妇女早在2020年就已向澳大利亚人权委员会报告了该地区存在的问题。1

面对危机，西澳政府正推进基于社区的解决方案。1该州正在试点的家庭主导决策模式已显示出成效，维州原住民儿童和社区机构的相关项目实现了78%的转向率，即将家庭从儿童保护系统中转向社区支持。1西澳政府已承诺在4年内投入720万澳元继续这一试点计划。1然而，该试点实施五年后仍仅限于两个地区，尚未覆盖皮尔巴拉地区，1需要进一步扩展这一被证明有效的模式以惠及更多社区。1

Western Australia is grappling with a serious child protection emergency, particularly in the South Hedland region, where three children died in 20221. The crisis extends beyond this tragic incident, with approximately 12,529 children becoming the subject of child protection investigations across Western Australia in 2024-25, of which roughly 41 percent are First Nations children1.

The underlying issues in South Hedland were flagged as early as 2020, when Indigenous women reported the region's problems to the Australian Human Rights Commission1. These reports highlighted children living in poor conditions without adequate adult supervision. To address these challenges, authorities have implemented a family-led decision-making pilot program, which has shown promise in other jurisdictions—a similar initiative in Victoria achieved a 78 percent diversion rate, successfully redirecting families away from the child protection system1. However, after five years of operation in Western Australia, the pilot remains confined to only two regions and has not expanded to cover the Pilbara area1.

The Western Australian government has committed AUD 7.2 million over four years to continue the pilot program1. Advocates argue that expanding family-led approaches and increasing family support services, rather than relying solely on removal interventions, are essential to resolving the child safety crisis affecting vulnerable Indigenous communities across the state.