Vic child protection hit with racism claim

A former Victorian government staffer has spoken of systemic racism and a bullying culture within the child protection system.

At a Yoorrook Justice Commission hearing into the state's criminal justice and child protection systems, Aunty Glenys Watts recalled a toxic work culture where her colleagues openly bullied the people they were paid to help.

"I just felt like it was lateral violence the way they were talking," Ms Watts said on Tuesday.

"Child protection were really rude. They'd talk about children, and they'd be talking to youth and I used to cringe at my desk thinking, you know, 'This isn't right'."

Ms Watts, a Gunaikurnai woman, spent seven years working for the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, which was previously part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The unprofessional conduct got so bad that she filed an internal complaint and was eventually ostracised for doing so, Ms Watts told the commission.

She later learned other employees had also made internal complaints, but could not say if any disciplinary action was taken as a result.

The inquiry is looking into why Aboriginal people are over-represented within the child protection and criminal justice systems.

Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency chief executive Aunty Muriel Bamblett, a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung woman, said Aboriginal kids make up 20 per cent of children in care but receive only seven per cent of funding for family services.

"We have to look at the past to see the challenges we face today, the patterns of removal and the disconnection from country," she said.

Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation chief executive Aunty Jill Gallagher, a Gunditjmara woman from Victoria's west, broke down in tears while addressing the commission.

"I believe the system is riddled with racism, it focuses on punishment and not rehabilitation and it needs to change," she said.

Ms Gallagher said she believes the systemic racism stems from European invasion and colonisation.

The commission on Monday heard from the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People Meena Singh, along with stolen generation survivor Aunty Eva Jo Edwards.

They discussed the intergenerational effects of child removal and Victoria's Aboriginal youth having the highest rate of interaction with child protection and removal of any state.

They also discussed the importance of preventative support and community-led solutions, and lifting the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

The commission is the formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by Aboriginal Victorians, as part of the state's treaty process.

AAP has contacted the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.