The Northern Territory Government is set to revise its child protection laws, placing child safety as the top priority in decisions about removing children from their families, irrespective of their background. This move has sparked opposition from over 330 different organizations.
Robyn Cahill, the NT Minister for Child Protection, revealed these legislative updates on Wednesday morning, highlighting that they are the result of over a year’s dedication and effort.
“For the future of children in the Territory, our focus will be squarely on their safety and well-being,” Cahill stated.
As part of these updates, Family Responsibility Agreements will see an expansion, holding parents and families more accountable. These agreements will be backed by court orders designed to compel family engagement or face consequences for non-compliance.
Additionally, the duration of short-term protection orders will be capped at two years. A stringent set of measures will be enforced for children who are at risk of being removed from their homes.
However, Indigenous organizations have voiced concerns, arguing that these amendments could jeopardize the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle. This principle is essential for preventing unnecessary child removals and supports family reunification in cases where separation occurs.
A scathing joint statement from Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APONT) and SNAICC – Voice for our Children condemned the changes.
“Abolishing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, which the NT Government is already failing to uphold, is a race-based attempt to blame Aboriginal families for conditions created by government failure and moves us further from Closing the Gap targets,” it said.
“Removing children does not necessarily make them safer. Countless people carry life-long damage from out-of-home care experiences, particularly when cut off from family, culture, and Country.”
The announcement comes in the wake of the alleged murder of five-year-old girl Kumanjayi Little Baby near Alice Springs, with the minister also announcing a review into the conduct of the Department of Children and Families in the lead up to her death.
Community organisations furious over changes
When asked about fears the new legislation could lead to another Stolen Generation, Minister Cahill told reporters in Darwin that she would not “abandon” a generation of children.
“I will not be a minister who abandons another generation of Territory kids,” she said.
“The reality is that we have kids in really difficult situations and for a long time people have been paralysed by the fear they will be accused of doing that – this is absolutely not the case, this is absolutely looking at children deserve to be safe.”
“We get that the absolute priority should be to keep a child with their family, but we also understand that if that is not a safe environment then we must get the child out of there, make sure they’re safe, and then go and deal with whatever the situation is that’s made the family situation unsafe for them.”
She also denied the changes would remove the child placement principle.
“Every single child deserves to have exactly the same opportunity, every child’s culture, every child’s background, religion, needs to be taken into account … the absolute first priority however is to make sure they don’t need to be placed in care.”
“In addition to that universal principle there are principles that will relate specifically to Aboriginal children, recognising … that there is a very special kinship and cultural relationship to Country that needs to be included in the consideration.”
But APONT expressed outrage at the move.
“We strongly reject the NT Government’s deliberate portrayal of Aboriginal families, communities, and culture as a risk to children’s safety,” APONT chair Theresa Roe said.
“This narrative is dangerous, ignorant, and wrong. It erases the love, strength, and protection that Aboriginal families, communities, country and culture provide every day.”
Inquiry into NT Department
Minister Cahill also announced former NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb and senior NT public servant Greg Shanahan would lead a review into the conduct of the Department of Children and Families in the lead up to the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs.
The five-year-old girl went missing on April 25th from the Old Timers Town Camp outside Alice Springs, and her body was found five days later after the largest search in the NT in decades.
47-year-old man Jefferson Lewis has been charged with her murder
But Minister Cahill announced three child protection workers had been stood down by the Department last Wednesday, after concerns had been raised with her about the girl’s circumstances in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.
NITV understands two of those workers were reinstated the next day.
The review is expected to take three months.
“We don’t want it to drag on forever … this needs to be short and sharp,” Minister Cahill said.
“Because the processes that occurred in the Kumanjayi Little Baby case are the Department wide processes they’re going to use that as the baseline … and those recommendations will be able to be rippled through the entire department.”
In federal parliament on Tuesday, NT Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price gave an emotional condolence speech in honour of Kumanjayi Little Baby.
“As more details have emerged around my niece’s death Australians have learned that multiple warnings were reported, made in regards to her safety, and these warnings were not acted upon adequately,” she told the Senate.
“Let me say clearly that this is not an isolated case, for years I have raised concerns about the failures within child protection.”
