Sue-Anne Hunter has had a long career which started as a social worker and reached the heights of Commissioner for Victoria’s Truth Telling Commission - The Yoorook Justice Commission. Now she’s been appointed as Australia’s first National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, and the weight of the responsibility is very real.

Her appointment comes at a time when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are being imprisoned at one of the highest rates in the world, incarceration rates are rising instead of falling, Indigenous people make-up nearly a third of all deaths in custody, and most Closing the Gap targets for children are not on track; with some going backwards.

So the task to break the cycle that leads to these appalling stats is a huge one.

Today, National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Sue-Anne Hunter on the task ahead and giving voice to children who have too often been spoken about, but rarely listened to.

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Guest: National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, Sue-Anne Hunter.

Photo: AAP Image/James Ross