A bill seeking to enshrine an independent National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, has passed the Senate.
The National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Bill 2026 enables the independent operation of the Commission and provides its power to drive systemic change across all jurisdictions to support and protect First Nations children.
National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Sue-Anne Hunter said it was a "historic" moment.
"It means we can actually hold systems to account around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in this country that we know are failing," she told NITV News.
Commissioner Hunter was appointed to the position in August of 2025, but until now has not had the power to operate independently from government.
She said independence is crucial to her work.
"We need to operate independently because it's governments that run these systems, that fund these systems," she said.
"We need to be able to call that out when it is going wrong and what is happening to the government to make changes."
The legislation is aligned with the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and satisfies Australia's obligations under the United Convention on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
It was also created to prioritise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing.
Speaking on the Bill in Parliament, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy said the bill was created with consultation and advice from over 70 Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and acts on recommendations raised in the 1997 Bringing The Home Report.
"This bill is incredibly important, it is important because we are listening to what the communities have been asking for a long time," she said.
She said most organisations agreed that the Commission was crucial for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, particularly those being "taken away and who are in out of home care".
"Having the ability for the national Commissioner to work with each state and territory but inform this Parliament is absolutely critical."
For Commissioner Hunter, the first step getting "a foundation of what is happening at a national level".
"We'll be looking at previous reports . . .collating all those previous recommendations from out of home care and juvenile justice as well as statistics so we know what we're about to go into and we can make really informed decisions," she said.
The Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman hopes that within the year, the Commission will have collated voices and influenced policy.
"I hope . . . we're set up to start an inquiry that needs to be done - not another inquiry with recommendations that sit on the shelves but real systemic change that politicians have to listen to and have to make change."
