TARGET 11

YOUNG PEOPLE ARE NOT OVERREPRESENTED IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

Target 11 seeks a 30% reduction in Aboriginal youth detention by 2031 against a 2018-19 baseline. AFLDM supports this goal by focusing on prevention, addressing family issues early to avoid justice system involvement. It emphasises family-centred, community-connected approaches to reduce the significant overrepresentation of First Nations youth in detention. 

TARGET 12

CHILDREN ARE NOT OVERREPRESENTED IN THE CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM

Target 12 is supported by AFLDM by: 

• Preventing Removal: Empowering families to identify their won solutions and kinship supports to keep children safe at home, thereby avoiding entry to OOHC. 
• Increasing Reunification: Providing a framework for families to develop plans that lead to the safe return of children already in care to their parents or kin. 
• Upholding Self-Determination: Shifting decision-making authority from government departments to families and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO's).

TARGET 13

FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS ARE SAFE

While AFLDM is mostly associated with child protection, it is increasingly probable to be used as a prevention and early intervention tool to address family violence under Target 13 by:

• Early Intervention: AFLDM provides a culturally safe space for families to address the underlying drivers of violence before they escalate to crisis levels. 
• Family-Centred Safety Planning: It empowers the entire kinship network to develop collective safety plans, ensuring parents and children are supported by their own community rather than relying solely on external child protection responses. 
• Community-Led Solutions: By moving decision-making to families and ACCO's, AFLDM fosters self-determination, which is recognised as a protective factor against violence. 
• Holistic Support: The process often identifies the need for broader supports - such as housing, mental health, or drug and alcohol services - that help stabilise the household and reduce risk factors for abuse. 

TARGET 14

PEOPLE ENJOY HIGH LEVELS OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL WELLBEING.

AFLDM directly contributes to Target 14 by addressing the cultural and social determinants of mental health. It supports wellbeing through: 

• Strengthening Cultural Identity: By placing culture at the centre of decision-making, AFLDM reinforces a sense of belonging and identity, which are recognised protective factors for mental health.
• Empowering Self-Determination: AFLDM shifts control from government systems to families and ACCO's. This empowerment is essential for "healing-informed" responses that reduce psychological distress. 
• Holistic Wellbeing: Unlike mainstream clinical models, AFLDM views the "self" as inseparable from family and community. The process helps families identify their own needs for healing and support, which can prevent the escalation of mental health crises. 
• Reducing System-Induced Trauma: By preventing child removals or justice system entry, AFLDM avoids the significant trauma and stress associated with these systems, which are major drivers of poor social and emotional wellbeing. 

TARGET 17

PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND SERVICES ENABLING PARTICIPATION IN INFORMED DECISION-MAKING REGARDING THEIR OWN LIVES. 

While Target 17 is heavily focused on digital equity, AFLDM provides the practical framework for the "informed decision-making" that this access is intended to support. 

• Participation in Decisions: Target 17's broader outcomes is that First Nations people have the information needed to make choices. AFLDM is the primary process used to facilitate this right to self-determination in complex systems. 
• Culturally Safe Information Sharing: AFLDM ensures that information regarding a family's circumstances is shared in a culturally safe environment, reducing the barriers created by jargon and bureaucratic systems. 
• Empowering Families with Data: A key goal of Target 17 is "shared access to data and information at a regional level" (Priority Reform 4). AFLDM brings this to the family level, ensuring families have the same information as government agencies to develop their own safety and support plans. 
• Enabling Service Access: Digital inclusion under Target 17 is an enabler for accessing essential services like telehealth or online learning. AFLDM meetings often identify these specific service needs, and digital access ensures families can actually engage with them. 

Current Challenges: Recent Data shows that estimating a clear trajectory for Target 17 is difficult due to gaps in national data. Organisations like SNAICC continue to call for legislated AFLDM Frameworks to ensure that the "informed" decision-making" promised by Target 17 becomes a standard practice rather than an optional one.