National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Act 2026

The National Commissioner has the following functions (the general functions):

to promote, and enhance coordination among Australian government entities and officials of, efforts to identify and recommend solutions to systemic issues that affect the rights, interests, development, safety or wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people;

to provide advice to the Commonwealth on matters affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, in relation to developing and delivering policies, programs and services;

to undertake and commission research into systemic issues and barriers that affect the rights, interests, development, safety or wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, including as a result of regulatory activities and the developing and delivering of policies, programs and services;

to provide and commission educational programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people with the goal of empowering them to promote, and to advocate for the incorporation of, their views, needs and experiences on matters that affect them in the development and delivery of policies and programs by, and advice to, the Commonwealth;

to undertake public advocacy to promote the rights, interests, development, safety and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, and to amplify their voices and strengths;

to engage with a broad range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people throughout Australia, including in remote areas, and to support them to understand and assert their rights, agency and leadership;

any other function conferred on the National Commissioner by this Act or any other Act.

Section 14 sets out general principles for the National Commissioner’s performance of functions.

The National Commissioner also has the following functions:

to conduct research and inquire into matters relating to, or for the purposes of, the general functions, and to make recommendations in relation to those matters, under section 17;

to accept a referral of a matter relating to the general functions under section 19;

to refer matters to another entity under section 20;

to contribute to inquiries into matters relating to the general functions under section 22;

to provide advisory services under section 23;

to collaborate with the Australian Human Rights Commission and other organisations and institutions on matters relating to the general functions;

to engage with international human rights mechanisms, including relevant United Nations bodies, rapporteurs and procedures, for the purposes of providing information, research or advice on matters relating to the general functions;

anything incidental or conducive to the performance of any of the functions mentioned elsewhere in this section.

The National Commissioner’s functions are primarily directed at systemic issues, but the National Commissioner may refer individual complaints to another Australian government entity or official: see section 20.