Anti-racist practice as a legal imperative in the family justice system

Augusta Itua, Chair, Racial Justice Family Network (‘RJFN’)

The article examines how principles of equity and fairness are given practical effect within the Family Justice System and argues that urgent action is required to develop and implement a shared understanding of anti-racist practice. Despite growing recognition of racial disparities in the experiences and outcomes of children, families and professionals, recognition alone is insufficient to drive the structural and institutional change required to achieve meaningful progress. Closer scrutiny is required of how power relations, structural disadvantage, intersecting needs, and lived experience shape participation in proceedings, and of how the system responds, or fails to respond, in ways that are proportionate to the practical realities faced by the children, families and professionals before the court. To uphold equity and fairness, the Family Justice System must adopt a proactive and legally grounded approach to anti-racist practice, reflected consistently in assessment, decision-making and professional interactions. It is within this context that the requirement for anti-racist practice must be understood not as a matter of aspiration or discretion, but as a legal imperative embedded within existing legal duties.