Crisis of First Nations children in care will worsen under NT child protection reforms, advocates warn | Indigenous Australians
The Northern Territory government is removing protection introduced to prevent a repeat of the Stolen Generation as part of sweeping reforms to the child protection system.
The draft legislation was unveiled alongside details of a major review of the Territory’s child protection system following the highly publicized death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs.
It was condemned by a coalition of 330 First Nations and justice organizations who said the territorial government was promoting a “dangerous, ignorant and inaccurate” narrative.
Former New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb will lead that review, along with NT public servant Greg Shanahan, NT Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill told reporters.
The alleged murder of the Warlpiri child sparked nationwide mourning and calls for a review of conditions in camps in the town of Alice Springs, the child protection system in the NT and custody systems, despite her mother repeatedly asking that her child’s death not be used for political reasons.
A 47-year-old man, who is not related to or in the care of the child, has been charged with murder and two other crimes but has not yet appeared in person in court or entered a plea.
Cahill told reporters on Wednesday that he had been working on amending the Care and Protection of Children Act for a year.
“I have made it clear many times that I will not be a minister who abandons another generation of children of the region,” he said. “The reality is that we have kids who are in really difficult situations, and people have been paralyzed for a long time by the fear that they will be accused of doing this.”
The changes erode the principle of Aboriginal child placement, a national framework that has been included in legislation since the 1980s in response to the forced removal of Indigenous children through the Stolen Generation. It will be replaced by a new universal principle.
In a joint statement with 330 other organisations, the Aboriginal Peak Organizations Northern Territory (APO NT) and the SNAICC, the peak body for First Nations children, said they opposed any legislative change that would remove or weaken the principle of Aboriginal child placement and Aboriginal concepts of kinship; facilitates the removal of Aboriginal children; makes it difficult for Aboriginal children to be placed in kinship care; and makes it difficult for Aboriginal children to be reunited with their families or return to Country.
They said lowering the threshold for child removals and accelerating long-term placements would “further deepen an already devastating crisis, with consequences for generations of Aboriginal Territories”; and that the removal of the Aboriginal child placement principle “is a race-based attempt to blame Aboriginal families for the conditions created by government failure, moving us further away from Closing the Gap goals”.
“We strongly reject the NT Government’s deliberate portrayal of Aboriginal families, communities and culture as a risk to children’s safety,” APO NT chief executive Theresa Roe said.
Cahill said the changes are designed to protect children from ongoing harm, minimize the multiple placements that vulnerable children are subjected to and ensure stability and permanence.
“The ongoing cycle of harm, risk and uncertainty needs to be addressed and the only way to achieve this is to put the fundamental human rights of the child’s safety first,” he said. “These changes will deliver more consistent support and better outcomes for both children and their families.
“Every child is important, no matter where they come from, no matter their race or religion. I’m not ready to turn a blind eye and abandon another generation of families and children.”
Family Responsibility Agreements, which aim to address child welfare concerns or antisocial behavior before formal legal intervention, will be strengthened and expanded to encourage parents and families to be responsible and accountable, Cahill said.
“This is a legal framework for early but reasonable intervention after every effort has been made to keep families together,” Cahill said. “We want children to be with their families when it is safe, and when it is not safe, we will act determinedly to provide children with the permanence, stability and care they deserve.”
The child protection review was also condemned by First Nations child advocates and legal services, who called on the Liberal party government to broaden the scope to include other departments that affect the safety of Indigenous children, including housing, health and corrections.
Federal Indigenous Australian minister Malarndirri McCarthy encouraged Cahill to listen to the NT children’s commissioner and the national children’s commissioner. “I think they are pretty expert in this area,” he said.
