Media Release
Lasting reform needed after systemic child protection failures identified in NT review
The Australian Human Rights Commission welcomes the Northern Territory Government’s acceptance of the recommendations of the review into child protection, including its call for a system-wide reset.
The review was established following the tragic death of Kumanjayi Little Baby. It is important to be clear that it examined the conduct and systems of the Department of Children and Families, not the circumstances of her death.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss said: ‘The NT Government’s acceptance of all 45 recommendations is an important first step. What matters now is implementation that delivers lasting change.
‘Children have a right to be safe. They also have a right to family, culture and community. These are not competing objectives. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, culture is itself a protective factor.
‘Despite having scope to consider broader systemic issues, the review missed an opportunity to meaningfully address First Peoples self-determination, cultural rights, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle and Aboriginal-led solutions to keeping children safe.
‘The review highlights the need for a child protection system that properly understands domestic and family violence (DFV), intervenes early and works with families to create safety, rather than waiting until the choices narrow to crisis intervention or removal.’
The review found significant shortcomings in the Department’s approach to DFV, including the absence of DFV-informed risk assessment in the circumstances examined. It also found that responsibility for protecting children was effectively placed on a parent who was herself experiencing violence.
Commissioner Kiss said: ‘DFV is not an Aboriginal-only issue. Nor should responsibility for stopping violence be placed on the parent experiencing it.
‘When child protection authorities assess whether a non-violent parent experiencing DFV can safely care for their children, they must also assess the family’s circumstances. Is their housing safe? Do they have specialist DFV support, practical assistance and culturally safe, community-controlled services?
‘Without those supports, there is a real danger that failures of the system are conflated with the parenting capacity of the person experiencing violence.
‘This creates a harmful either-or scenario in which children are either left in unsafe circumstances or removed from their family, culture and community.
‘The role of the system must be to make other options viable in the best interests of the child.’
‘Removal must not become the response to governments failing to provide the housing, services, safety and support necessary to keep families together.’
National Children’s Commissioner Deb Tsorbaris said: ‘Every child has the right to safety, protection and the opportunity to thrive. A child protection system must act early, understand the risks facing children and families, and provide support before those risks escalate.
‘Keeping children safe means more than identifying risk. Families need the housing, income, transport, food and health services necessary to create safety. Safety planning must lead to real support, not just a plan on paper.
‘Acceptance of the recommendations must now be matched by sustained implementation, proper resourcing and accountability for whether reform is making children safer.’
Commissioner Kiss said: ‘Lasting reform requires investment in prevention and early intervention, effective responses to DFV, culturally safe services and genuine partnership with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and First Peoples communities.
‘The NT Government still has not implemented the recommendations of the 2017 Royal Commission into child protection.
‘It must now implement the review’s recommendations with urgency, transparency and accountability, and build a child protection system that gives families the support they need to keep children safe, connected to culture and, wherever possible and in their best interests, together.’
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