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Issues

Wellbeing of Children

Research states that one attribute to strong families is time spent together this attribute is likely to be diminished when a child grows up with a single parent or with no parent present.

Census 2001 statistics shows that (52%) of children living in Indigenous households are natural, adopted or step-children in couple families, compared with (81%) of other children.

The proportion of children who are living with neither parent but with another relation increases in very remote areas. According to Daly and Smith this may be due to the to the ABS definition of ‘household’, for the indigenous population residing in very remote communities the more traditional modes of household formation based on the extended family is more prevalent.

A more comprehensive survey of data supports the importance of kin and the extended family in traditional childcare practices. The wider extended family sometimes located across several different households is the primary care group for many Indigenous children. The ‘kin’ referred to by the English terms is ‘auntie’ and ‘grannie’ and they are particularly influential as primary carers and socialisers.