One in seven Aboriginal children will have an out-of-home care placement by the time they’re 13. The Know Your Rights website will empower their families to bring them home.
Aboriginal families navigating the child protection system now have a powerful new resource with today’s launch of the Know Your Rights website.
The website was developed by AbSec – the peak organisation advocating for the rights and well-being of Aboriginal children, young people, and families in NSW – in partnership with Aboriginal community organisations, and working closely with UNSW academic Associate Professor BJ Newton, a proud Wiradjuri woman and Scientia Associate Professor at UNSW’s Social Policy Research Centre.
Know Your Rights is grounded in A/Prof. Newton’s ‘Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home’ research – the first Aboriginal-led research into the reunification of Aboriginal families worldwide.
Co-designed with community organisations and informed directly by the experiences of Aboriginal parents and families, the initiative provides clear, practical guidance on rights, policy and practice, alongside interactive tools that help families advocate for themselves.
“The project emphasises cultural safety, empowerment, and the importance of families remaining connected, strong and informed throughout very traumatic and confusing processes,” says A/Prof. Newton.
The platform brings together family-voiced guides, real-life insights and practical tools such as animations, journey maps, case studies and advocacy workbooks.
“Know Your Rights gives families actionable knowledge, so they are aware of their rights under legislation and policy, and how the child protection system is supposed to function,” A/Prof. Newton says.
“Community voices are central, with parents sharing what helped them, what to prepare for, and how to remain strong and proactive as they gather evidence to support restoration.”
A series of animations voiced by an “Auntie” offers additional support for families dealing with the grief and upheaval of separation.
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A research-backed resource
“Advocating for Aboriginal rights and justice through research that genuinely serves communities has been at the heart of my work and Know Your Rights represents what's possible when research is led by and with Aboriginal families," say A/Prof. Newton.
“The statistics for Aboriginal children in out of home care are shocking.
“There are currently more than 22,000 Aboriginal children in out-of-home care and the restoration rate is only 15%. That’s 85% of kids in care who won’t go home while they’re still kids.
“We developed the resource because Aboriginal families are usually unaware of their rights, and that is a big barrier to stopping their children being removed, or getting their children out of care.
“Know Your Rights arms Aboriginal families and their supporters with the knowledge needed to navigate the child protection system. It is one way to shift the power imbalance between child protection systems and Aboriginal families and communities,” she says.
In Australia, Aboriginal children remain disproportionally impacted by state intervention.
“Aboriginal children are 10 times more likely to be removed than other children. The system targets Aboriginal families, and once children enter care it is very difficult to get them back home,” A/Prof. Newton says.
“Through the research we know there are many children in care that should not have been removed, and there are many families desperately trying to get their children home.”
Next steps
While Know Your Rights is intended for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents, carers and extended families, it also offers value for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, non-Indigenous caregivers, practitioners and students seeking to understand child protection processes and how to advocate within them.
The next phase of the Know Your Rights project will expand the offering to support Aboriginal children in understanding their rights and creating resources they can use in navigating the child protection system.
It will be shaped by A/Prof. Newton’s current research Understanding systems abuse and Aboriginal resistance in child protection contexts, which received a $1,634,700 Investigator Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council commencing in 2026.
“Thanks to the NHMRC we can expand the Know Your Rights resources specifically for Aboriginal young people so they can remain connected to their family and culture in out-of-home care,” says A/Prof. Newton.
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