Crisis of First Nations children in care will worsen under NT child protection reforms, advocates warn

The Northern Territory government is removing a protection introduced to avoid a repeat of the Stolen Generation as part of sweeping reforms to the child protection system.

The draft legislation was revealed alongside details of a major review into the Territory’s child protection system, announced in the wake of the high-profile death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs.

It has been condemned by a coalition of 330 First Nations and justice organisations, who say the Territory government is promoting a narrative that is “dangerous, ignorant, and wrong”.

The NT minister for child protection, Robyn Cahill, told reporters that former New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb will lead that review, alongside NT public servant Greg Shanahan.

The alleged killing of the Warlpiri child has prompted nationwide mourning and calls to review the conditions in Alice Springs town camps, the child protection system and custodial systems in the NT, even as her mother has repeatedly asked that her child’s death not be used for political reasons.

A 47-year-old man who is not related to the child or connected to her care has been charged with murder and two other offences, but is yet to face court in person or enter a plea.

Cahill told reporters on Wednesday that she had been working on changes to the Care and Protection of Children Act for a year.

“I have made it clear on multiple occasions that I will not be a minister who abandons yet 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 that they’ll be accused of doing that.”

The amendments erode the Aboriginal child placement principle, a national framework that has been enshrined in legislation since the 1980s in response to the forced removal of Indigenous children through the Stolen Generation. It will be replaced with a new universal principle.

In a joint statement with 330 other organisations, Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APO NT) and SNAICC, the peak body for First Nations children, said they oppose any legislative changes that would remove or dilute the Aboriginal child placement principle and Aboriginal concepts of kinship; makes it easier for Aboriginal children to be removed; makes it more difficult for Aboriginal children to be placed in kinship care; and makes it more difficult for Aboriginal children to be reunifed with family or return to Country.