A/HRC/36/46/Add.2 individuals and communities. The Federal Government has recognized that incarceration is a national concern, including by its request in October 2016 that the Australian Law Reform Commission conduct an inquiry into incarceration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, as long as the issue of overrepresentation of indigenous peoples in custody is not addressed in practice and continuously monitored, there will only be limited progress in closing the gap in the areas of health, education and employment. The “Change the Record” coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and civil society organizations has provided an excellent blueprint of recommendations 23 for concrete measures that would provide swift improvements of detention conditions. 86. The current claim by the Government that matters relating to incarceration remain the sole prerogative of states is untenable in the severe and worsens the impact of the national detention crisis on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Special Rapporteur underlines that it is the responsibility of the federal Government to ensure compliance with international human rights obligations. The inclusion of targets on justice in the “Closing the Gap” strategy and the development and implementation of a national plan of action are needed to address the incarceration crisis. M. Removal of children 87. Indigenous children are removed from their families at increasingly high rates. The prolonged impacts of intergenerational trauma from the Stolen Generations, disempowerment and entrenched poverty continue to inform Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ experiences of child protection interventions. The Special Rapporteur was told of the grief and helplessness felt by parents and children owing to their separation, and the link this has to high rates of mental illness and substance abuse. 88. In 1997, the year in which the report entitled “Bringing Them Home” was published (see para. 92), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children constituted 20 per cent of children in out-of-home care. By 2016, that figure had increased to 36 per cent, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children being 10 times more likely than nonindigenous children to be in out-of-home care. 89. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle was first implemented in 1983 with the purpose of enhancing and preserving Aboriginal children’s sense of identity through the prevention of out-of-home care, reunifying children with their families, ensuring culturally connected placements and enabling the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities in child protection decisionmaking. Despite that, the incidence of indigenous children in out-of-home care is increasing rapidly and has reached critical levels. In 2016, on average, only 66 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children for whom child protection measures were ordered were placed within their family, kin and community; the Government is failing to comply with the Principle. 90. Greater engagement with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family and community in decision-making processes around child protection is crucial. Communityled early intervention programmes that invest in families would prevent children from being in contact with the child protection system in the first place. 91. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care is predicted to almost triple by 2035. Measures must therefore be put in place urgently. To monitor the situation, an Aboriginal children’s commissioner in each state and territory and a national coordinating entity could play a valuable role. Development, in consultation with peak indigenous organizations, should be considered of a national strategy to eliminate the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care. 23 See https://changetherecord.org.au/the-solutions. 15