The national peak body for Aboriginal children and families says a review into the Northern Territory child protection system sparked by the alleged murder of Kumanjayi Little Baby has fallen short of what’s needed to drive systemic change.
The three-month review by former New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb and longtime public servant Greg Shanahan examined the Department of Children and Families’ dealings with Kumanjayi Little Baby’s family, including in the lead-up to her death in April.
The co-authors identified “extensive failings” and called for a “system-wide reset” of child protection.
They made 45 recommendations, which the NT government has accepted in full as it promises further reforms to build on child protection laws passed in July.
After five-year-old Kumanjayi was allegedly abducted and murdered in Alice Springs, the NT government passed legislation it said enshrined safety as the top priority in child welfare decisions.
The law, which was not examined as part of the review, has been roundly condemned by advocates who maintain child safety was already the top priority under existing legislation, arguing instead the new legislation makes it easier to place Aboriginal children with non-Indigenous carers.
In a statement, SNAICC – National Voice for Our Children accused the NT government to “demonising” Aboriginal people and culture and failing to listen to First Nations voices.
“The review did not cite the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle as a factor in the tragic death of Kumanjayi Little Baby, yet the weakening of the principle is the only substantive response we have seen from the minister and the NT government,” said SNAICC chair Muriel Bamblett.
The reforms have been criticised by Aboriginal community controlled organisations, National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, Sue-Anne Hunter, the federal government, and all states and territories except for Queensland and the NT.
“While this report may have given a voice to frontline child protection workers it has failed to hear Territory Aboriginal families, Aboriginal children and the Aboriginal voices who have informed the solutions put forward in the hundreds of recommendations contained in a myriad of reports over many years,” said Bamblett.
Co-author Karen Webb said she was “surprised” and “disturbed” by the “lack of urgency to some of the calls for help” as well as “the lack of appreciation for the increasing risk to the to the child in that family”.
At a press conference on Wednesday, she said the current child protection system “doesn't allow the workers to do a reassessment of the risk based on any escalation, frequency, severity, or the cumulative harm, particularly where there's domestic and family violence present”.
The review documented Kumanjayi’s long history of contact with child protection, including multiple safety ratings as low as 2 out of 10 following domestic and family violence incidents in 2021 and 2022.
It recommended reform to clarify frameworks for child protection practices and risk assessment, with a focus on domestic and family violence, information sharing, and early intervention.
The review also canvassed resourcing and governance issues within the department, with recommendations aimed at addressing recruitment, retention, competency and the lack of clarity around decision-making responsibilities.
Kumanjayi Little Baby had been placed on a safety plan when she was 17 weeks old, and one of the adults on that safety plan had a criminal history.
“I think it's just unforgivable and I think it speaks volumes to the work that was being done by child protection workers in an environment where there was such a disconnect between what the legislation required for them to do and the frameworks that had been put in place and the policies,” said NT Minister for Child Protection, Robyn Cahill.
“I have already directed the department to do an audit of all existing signs of safety frameworks and have all people involved in those frameworks assessed to make sure that they are not people who should not be around children.”
She has promised to follow through on addressing the report’s recommendations.
The CEO of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, Ben Grimes, has accused Cahill of inaction over the two years since the Country Liberal Party government came to office, arguing the problems in child protection stem from failings within the department rather than inadequate laws.
“The report is clear about what went wrong ... it was not a lack of statutory authority or protective mechanisms," he said.
"It was the timeliness and effectiveness of the department’s identification, assessment and response to risk.
"Not one of the 45 recommendations calls for changes to the law; in other words, the law was not the problem.
"Yet the minister has spent much of the last two years focused on changing the law.
"That is time she should have spent on fixing the problems in her department."
The report states there were 14 notifications over Kumanjayi’s exposure to domestic and family violence, mostly relating to her father and covering verbal and physical violence, breaches of domestic violence orders, and coercive control.
The Warlpiri girl was allegedly murdered by 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, who was not a member of her family, nor known to her mother.
Lewis has not yet entered a plea regarding the murder charges.
Advocates agree changes to the child protection system are urgently needed, but have criticised the scope of the review, as well as a perceived lack of engagement with Aboriginal organisations.
In a statement, the Central Australian Family Violence and Sexual Assault Network Advisory Group expressed concern that the review did not focus on the violence allegedly perpetrated by Lewis.
“The framing of the report is victim-blaming of a woman who experienced prolonged domestic and family violence, however was not offered assistance, despite many notifications, to escape this,” the statement said.
“A mum experiencing domestic and family violence is being held more accountable for Kumanjayi Little Baby’s death than the alleged person who chose to use violence."
Muriel Bamblett said children do best when they grow up with family, knowing who they are and where they belong, highlighting the importance of protective factors like housing, health services and family supports.
“To blame culture and the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle for what are plainly failures in family, child and community safety is a deflection of the NT Government’s responsibility to keep children safe and connected to family, culture and community,” she said.
She said independent reviews only work when governments are willing to listen and act.
“Properly applying the Child Placement Principle, committing to solutions put forward by Aboriginal Territorians and acting on the wider issues impacting children and families will see our children able to grow up strong, safe and protected.”
