A Defining Step Forward for Our Children
By TEKAN COCHRANE
Lawyer & Human Rights Advocate
Last week, the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Bill 2026 passed Parliament, marking a significant and hopeful step forward for our nation.
In my view, this marks a defining and important moment.
For too long, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have been navigating systems that were never designed with them at the centre. Despite their strength, resilience and deep cultural foundations, they remain disproportionately represented in out-of-home care and youth justice systems.
This new National Commission represents something significant: a clear statement that our children matter at the highest level of national policy.
I believe the establishment of an independent, statutory body dedicated solely to the rights and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people is both necessary and powerful.
It acknowledges that our children require focused national oversight, accountability and leadership. It creates a mechanism capable of elevating lived experience, scrutinising systems and ensuring that governments remain answerable for outcomes.
This reform is not an act of charity, it is an act of responsibility.
The Australian Government has taken an important step in legislating this Commission. But legislation is only the beginning. The real measure of success will be the extent to which governments federal, state and territory — are prepared to act on its findings, implement its recommendations and invest in long-term solutions. In my view, this is where the weight now sits.
This Commission must be properly resourced, genuinely independent and empowered to conduct rigorous oversight. It must be supported, not sidelined, when it speaks difficult truths. If government is serious about improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, it must be prepared to listen deeply and respond meaningfully.
There is an opportunity here to shift the narrative.
For decades, policy approaches have too often focused on crisis response rather than prevention. Yet we know that culturally grounded early intervention, community-led services and strong family support systems produce better outcomes. We know that self-determination strengthens families. We know that connection to culture is protective.
The National Commission can help centre these truths within national policy conversations.
I believe this reform aligns with a broader commitment to Closing the Gap and to genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. But partnership must be more than language it must be reflected in funding decisions, legislative reform and systemic change.
This Commission creates a national platform to track progress, identify gaps and drive sustained accountability. It offers a pathway toward evidence-based reform grounded in lived experience. Most importantly, it affirms that our children deserve systems that see them, respect them and support them to thrive.
This is a moment to acknowledge progress.
The establishment of the National Commission demonstrates that sustained advocacy from communities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations can lead to structural reform. It reflects years of work by those who have called for a dedicated national voice for our children.
Now the responsibility rests with government to ensure this body is not merely symbolic, but transformative.
Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is not a niche policy issue, it is a national priority. When our children are safe, culturally strong and supported to reach their full potential, I truly believe Australia benefits as a whole.
The passage of the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Bill 2026 is a significant and welcome step forward. Our children deserve nothing less.
- Kooma and Yuwaalaraay woman Tekan Cochrane is Founder & Managing Director / Lawyer of TC Law & Consulting
