Less than half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children entering out-of-home care are being placed with relatives or kin, with advocates urging more effort from governments to deal with the issue.

Almost half of these Indigenous children - 47 per cent - were placed with relatives in 2023/24, representing a slight improvement on the 45 per cent shown in Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data for 2019/20.

This rate remains unacceptably low for Catherine Liddle, chief executive of peak body for Indigenous children SNAICC.

She says it shows the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, which was designed to reduce over-representation in the child protection system, is not being fully respected or implemented.

"These aren't just numbers, that statist

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