Understanding cultural rights

Family is the foundation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. Supporting connections to family helps to maintain meaningful relationships with people in a child’s family and wider community. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, ‘family’ means all those involved in a child’s life including parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, and members of the community.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child deals with the need for children from indigenous backgrounds to maintain contact with their community. It states that ‘a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture.

You can read more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and identity here