Kumanjayi Little Baby review finds “extensive failings” as Jacinta Nampijinpa Price demands change to Australia’s child protection culture
An independent review into the Northern Territory child protection system found repeated failures before five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby’s alleged murder. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says the culture must change, while the NT government accepts all 45 recommendations.
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of a deceased Indigenous person, used with the approval of her family.
Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has said Australia’s “culture of child protection” needs to change after an independent review found serious failures in the Northern Territory Department of Children and Families’ dealings with the family of her five-year-old niece, Kumanjayi Little Baby, before the girl’s alleged murder.
The review, led by former New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb and veteran NT public servant Greg Shanahan, was tabled in the Northern Territory Parliament on Tuesday. It made 45 recommendations and called for a “system-wide reset” of the department, saying it needed to move away from a predominantly reactive model that responded to notifications of harm.abc.net+1
Senator Price, who is Kumanjayi Little Baby’s aunt, told the ABC that the findings exposed “the harsh truth about the total inadequacies of a system meant to safeguard our most at-risk individuals, particularly our children.” She said, “My niece was abandoned by the system, and I am aware of numerous other children who have faced similar neglect over the years.”
Kumanjayi Little Baby disappeared from an Alice Springs town camp in April. Her body was found in bushland south of Alice Springs on April 30 after a five-day police search. Jefferson Lewis, 47, was later charged with her murder and other offences; he has not yet entered a plea and is due to appear in the Alice Springs Local Court in December.
Senator Price said the review revealed that a domestic violence risk assessment had not been carried out for her niece and that people identified as “safety people” were not safe. “The ongoing notifications and the absence of proper procedures leave me almost speechless regarding the extent of the failures that culminated in the loss of my niece,” she said.
She also criticised child protection responses she said reflected an “ideological stance” on Indigenous issues, arguing that cultural considerations were sometimes prioritised over the safety of vulnerable women and children. “They would likely argue that my niece should not have been removed, and ultimately, we lost her,” Senator Price said.“I believe the system does not treat Aboriginal women and vulnerable children as Australian citizens, where their human rights and safety should be guaranteed,” she added.
The review found that Kumanjayi Little Baby was repeatedly exposed to domestic and family violence during her life, and that her mother was effectively left responsible for protecting her children while experiencing violence herself. It also found that child protection officers repeatedly failed to adequately assess safety threats facing Kumanjayi and her family.
Among its recommendations, the review called for a comprehensive reset of the department’s operating model, a fit-for-purpose child protection practice framework, an urgent workforce strategy, and an immediate audit of all current safety plans. It also recommended mandatory background checks covering violence, domestic abuse and drug misuse for all designated network adults, a unified domestic violence risk framework, and stronger use of protective court orders.
NT Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill tabled the report and said the Finocchiaro CLP government had accepted all 45 recommendations in full. She described the findings as “confronting” and “heartbreaking,” and said work on implementation had already begun.
Ms Cahill said child protection was in crisis across Australia and criticised previous Labor administrations for placing “so-called progressive beliefs above child safety.” “The culture of a child matters, but it must never supersede safety,” she said.
Lead reviewer Karen Webb said the three-month investigation was “tough and at times confronting,” but said it provided a pathway for meaningful reform. “There are more than 40 recommendations which give us a pathway forward to address some of the serious concerns I have had in the child protection space for a very long time,” she said.
Webb also said frontline workers were “doing their best in a broken system,” adding: “Maintaining the status quo is not good enough when it comes to protecting the Territory’s most vulnerable.”
Senator Price said the Northern Territory’s review should be replicated in every state and territory to ensure child protection worked effectively nationally, “not only for Indigenous children but for the welfare of all children.” “The culture of child protection must transform,” she said.
She said she had not yet been able to discuss the report with all of Kumanjayi Little Baby’s relatives, but said the family wanted a deeper understanding of what happened.
Earlier this year, vigils were held across Australia in memory of Kumanjayi Little Baby. Her funeral in Alice Springs in August was attended by Senator Price and federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy, with mourners dressed in pink, the girl’s favourite colour.
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