COVID-19: A catalyst for systems change

In this post, Sharynne Hamilton and Sarah Maslen ask a critical question: Could COVID-19 be the catalyst for us to rethink how we support vulnerable children, families, and their communities in Australia?

The last weeks have seen radical changes in how most Australians live, care, and work in response to government-led systems change to lessen the impact of Covid-19. Against a backdrop of our, almost overnight, change to priorities and systems, some commentators are beginning to articulate how these changes might alter the lives and choices of governments, communities and individuals long term and how Covid-19 may raise questions about the necessity of past practices (1).

With acknowledgement that the impacts of this public health crisis and its management does not affect all Australians equally, the need to care for the elderly and vulnerable community members is foremost in public consciousness.  Less discussed, but nonetheless heavily impacted, are the children, young people, and their families whose lives are entangled with government protection and justice systems. Aboriginal children, families and communities in particular are fragmented and still suffering as a result of the loss of culture, language community and kinship structures which has resulted in the transfer of trauma and disadvantage, realised in present day rates of child removal practices and high rates of imprisonment.

Systems of care and justice for young people are often thought of as intractable problems and we have previously articulated that change is well overdue – in adoption laws, in reducing stigma against parents and community works and in creating a charter of rights for parents and carers (2,3,4). Research (7) has shown the need for better treatment and support for parents involved with the child protection system in Australia and for justice-involved youth and their families (5,6). What this crisis demonstrates, indirectly, is the capacity for rapid systems change. The Covid-19 pandemic could well be the catalyst for us to rethink how we are supporting vulnerable children, families, and their communities.

Could we take this as a window to rethink statutory systems and practice, rather than a return to ‘business as usual’ when the Covid-19 crisis is over? Could Covid-19 be the catalyst for a move to recovery-focussed institutions across the nation? It is already understood that there will need to be a priority focus on repairing the damage the Covid-19 pandemic inflicts on societies relating to economics and industry (10), the environment (11) and even the threat of “creeping authoritarianism” (12). Indeed, there is an argument that relationships between communities and governments will become more distant while scrutiny over private life and civil society increases (10). This presents a somewhat different angle to Geoffrey Blainey’s ideas about the ‘tyranny of distance’ (13).

There is potential to also assess whether we can make changes in the wake of Covid-19 to offer more responsive (8) solutions for all parties to assist in reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in prisons and the child protection system. When we consider the concept of ‘justice capital’ as part of recovery initiatives (6, 9), can we reconstruct these systems to provide for the well-known levels of FASD and neurodevelopmental disability in the justice system? Or can we meet the challenge of developing fairer systems which meet the rights and the needs of parents and family members in the community for information, advice, and advocacy for navigating these systems (4,5)? Can we provide a place for diverse voices to address these ongoing complex challenges?

What we ought to be realising is that we need to keep the conversations going, keep utilising the expert knowledge, and continue with bi-partisan collaborations beyond Covid-19. When we reconvene as a society, there are all kinds of options for change and moving forward. This is not only due to a suspension of many aspects of these previously entrenched systems. Governments are making decisions differently. Bi-partisan collaboration sees governments listening to and being informed by expertise. Can we make this model of governance a new way of working for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander problems?

We may be able to understand the experience of vulnerable communities differently now too. Perhaps more so now than ever before, many Australians are coming close to confronting the daily reality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: uncertainty, vulnerability, illness, death, risk to community, isolation, inadequate access to information and support and experiencing grief and trauma due to circumstances beyond our control. Now, more than ever is the time for recovery focussed systems of care.

Sharynne Hamilton - Ngunnawal woman, PhD Candidate, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia.

Sarah Maslen - Associate Professor, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society University of Canberra.