A United Nations expert has warned that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities fear a new Stolen Generation, as he called on Australia to change the way it protects Indigenous children and responds to young people in the justice system.
Albert K. Barume, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, made the warning on 13 November at the end of an official visit to Australia. He said high rates of child removal and the overrepresentation of First Peoples in detention were undermining their rights.
Among his recommendations is a national minimum age of criminal responsibility of at least 14, without exceptions. He also wants stronger support for families and greater Indigenous authority over child and family welfare. The recommendations are calls for change, not changes to Australian law.
Family separation and child protection
Barume said First Peoples’ children need culturally appropriate care, education and support from their families and communities rather than criminalisation. His warning connects two distinct areas of policy: children placed in care away from home and young people held in detention. They involve different systems, even where families and communities experience pressure from both.
He called for full implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle. The framework is intended to keep family, community, culture and Country central to decisions about children’s safety and care.
Its scope goes beyond choosing where a child lives. It includes preventing unnecessary separation, involving families and communities in decisions, and maintaining cultural and family connections. Where a child cannot safely remain at home, preferred arrangements include care by relatives or extended family, or within the child’s community.
National figures show that 52.2 per 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged up to 17 were in out-of-home care on 30 June 2025. The comparable rate in 2019 was 47.3 per 1,000. The 2025 national figure should be treated with caution because Queensland’s data for that year are preliminary, and changes in identification can affect comparisons.
Under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the stated target is to reduce the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care by 45 per cent by 2031. National progress against the target has been assessed as worsening from the baseline, rather than moving towards that reduction.
The history behind the warning
The Stolen Generations refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children forcibly removed from their families under past government policies and practices. Thousands were taken by governments, churches and welfare bodies and brought up in institutions or placed with non-Indigenous families. Separation damaged family and cultural ties, with effects that have continued across generations.
A national inquiry examined the separation of children from their families and published its Bringing Them Home report in 1997. In 2008, Australia’s parliament formally apologised to members of the Stolen Generations.
Barume’s warning invokes that history without establishing that every present-day care decision has the same purpose or circumstances as the historical removals. His concern is that continuing separation and weak implementation of protections leave children and communities facing lasting harm.
A call for national standards
The rapporteur visited Australia from 2 to 13 November at the invitation of the federal government. He said laws and protections should not depend on the priorities of successive state and territory governments, and urged an enforceable national framework for the rights set out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
He also called for independent monitoring and effective participation by First Peoples across jurisdictions. His recommendations include investment in community-controlled prevention, diversion and legal assistance, alongside a national representative body determined by First Peoples and supported with adequate funding.
Barume acknowledged existing commitments under Closing the Gap and progress in some areas. He praised Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and youth-led initiatives, while arguing that they need meaningful authority and sustained resources.
During the visit he was unable to enter the Holtze and Cleveland youth detention centres after the Northern Territory and Queensland governments refused to facilitate access. A spokesperson for Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the Australian government welcomed the visit and that human rights were protected through state and federal laws, common law and the constitution.
Barume is due to present a full report on the visit to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2027. His preliminary recommendations do not themselves require governments to enact a particular reform; what happens next will depend on their response.
