Posted by Ian Hamm on 18 April 2018

Tags: Victorian Commissioner for Children and Young People, Justin Mohamed, Victorian Government, Daniel Andrews, Labor Government, Ms Jill Gallagher AO, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, discrimination, State government, Aboriginal Victorians, Victorian Government, Aboriginal specific wellbeing, Aboriginal health, health and wellbeing, ACCHO, ACCO

I’m really pleased to see that Justin Mohamed has been appointed the second Victorian Commissioner for Children and Young People, stepping into the big shoes that Andrew Jackomos has left for him.

Many of you will know Justin from his work as Chairperson of NACCHO, as CEO of Rumbalara and CEO of Reconciliation Australia. Justin’s a proud Gooreng Gooreng man from Bundaberg and he starts his new job on 28 May.

This new role for Justin is an incredibly important one for our children and young people and will help shape generations to come. As you’ve heard me say before, focusing on ensuring that our kids, our nieces and nephews, our little cousins, have a bright future is something I see as one of our biggest priorities at VACCHO.

Andrew got a lot done in his five years as the Commissioner and he has laid a solid foundation for Justin to build on. Just one notable achievement during Andrew’s term was Taskforce 1000, which brought about positive changes in the relationships between ACCOs and DHHS.

We know from Andrew’s Commissioner reports that Aboriginal children are ten times more likely to be in care than non-Aboriginal children, and that’s something we’re working on at VACCHO on behalf of our members. Much of this work occurs through the Victorian Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Alliance (VACYP Alliance), which we auspice here at VACCHO. For those of you who are new and may not know, this is Dana Pyne’s area. We put out a joint media release with the Alliance earlier this morning about Justin’s appointment.

It’s critical that we continue the work started by Andrew and work closely with Justin to get right the shift to Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care, reducing the chance of another stolen generation of our people, albeit in a different form.

Working with Justin, the VACYP Alliance and VACCHO will continue to ensure government and key stakeholders hear the voice of not only Aboriginal children, but also include local Aboriginal communities in policy and program design and delivery. We’ll continue to work together to push for better resourcing for early intervention programs and prevention strategies for communities to support families. This will help to improve the safety and wellbeing of the most vulnerable Koori children and families.

I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing Justin Mohamed all the best as he takes on this task on behalf of our Community.

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