The story of racism is one of hate and unfathomable damage, but it is one that can be changed, the chief executive of the peak First Nations children and family body has told a parliamentary inquiry.

Appearing in Naarm / Melbourne at the final day of hearings for the Senate inquiry into racism and hate against First Peoples on Friday, SNAICC chief executive Catherine Liddle said systemic racism is a key factor in the over-representation of First Nations children in out-of-home care and youth detention.

Asked if racism was driving the high numbers of Indigenous children in care, she was unequivocal: "Absolutely."

"At every stage of a decision-making tree, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are treated differently," she said. "Without an understanding of what systemic racism is, we'll never be able to solve that problem."

Despite making up around seven per cent of Australia's child population, First Nations children account for 60 per cent of those in juvenile custody and 45 per cent of children placed in out-of-home care.

"That is what structural racism and systemic racism looks like in the departments and programs responsible for children," Ms Liddle said.

Children not safe in state care

A recently released report from the Northern Territory Child Commissioner found harm notifications affected one in four children placed in out-of-home care. Inquiry chair Senator Jana Stewart said she believed most Australians would be "horrified" by those statistics.

"I think most Australians would think that when you remove a child from their parents, it is because they are unsafe in that placement, and that the government, states, and territory jurisdictions are going to place that child somewhere that is safer," Senator Stewart observed, "not in a place that is going to cause them more harm."

In response, Ms Liddle said: "You wouldn't send your child into a school if you knew that was the rate of harm."

"The truth of it is," she said, "for those children, the parent was the government."

She said governments have all but walked away from truth-telling and accountability since the Voice referendum was defeated, she said, despite the process never being about blame.

"It's about understanding how the past has shaped our present so that we can move forward together."

Politicians weaponising children

Ms Liddle said First Nations children were too often "weaponised" by politicians for political gain.

It is a narrative "stoked" by politicians and the media," she said, which "continuously misrepresents" First Nations communities with "narratives that say we are problems to be solved or negated, or culprits to be blamed".

She argued governments continued to overlook the expertise of Indigenous organisations and communities, and disregard evidence, citing the NT Government's watering down of the child placement principle last month as an example of a government failing to heed expert advice.

"We see a debate where racism is at the core that claims the principle pits safety against culture, when that simply is not true," Ms Liddle said.

'Racism is a form of attack'

In her opening statement, Ms Liddle described racism as one of the "greatest barriers to improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families".

"Despite decades of inquiries, reviews, and reform efforts, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children continue to experience verbal, physical, and emotional abuse in places where they should feel safe," the Arrernte and Luritja woman said.

SNAICC's submission highlighted the story of 17-year-old Malayangapa and Wankumarra teenager Amelia Whyman, who previously recounted being racially abused as a 15-year-old by a stranger at a train station whilst bystanders watched on and failed to act.

"She was alone while she was being attacked, and let's be very clear: racism is a form of attack," Ms Liddle said.

"She says she's scared to go into places because she might be attacked, but physical safety is not only the impact on you feeling like someone might attack you. Physical safety also talks to the deep visceral pain and the sickness that we feel when someone attacks us with racism, because racism makes us feel physically ill."

Independent MP Andrew Gee said Amelia's experience was deeply confronting.

"It is shocking to think that a 15-year-old girl could be racially abused in that way, while people on the train station just stood around and watched," he said. "It's a reminder that everyone has a responsibility to speak up and speak out against racism — particularly when they see it — and don't just sit or stand silently by."

Earlier on Friday, Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA) chief executive Muriel Bamblett recounted an instance where the organisation chose not to publicly share the story of a young woman who died as a result of family violence because of fears people online would say "she deserved it".

"We were concerned that people would move away from sympathising with her and start to vilify her as an Aboriginal woman," she said.

"Now isn't that sad? We can't celebrate the fact that she had children, she had a life, she contributed so much."

Closing the Gap failings

Ms Liddle's evidence comes a week after the Productivity Commission's 2026 Closing the Gap report found that only three of the 15 assessed targets are on track to be met, while targets relating to children in out-of-home care, suicide, adult imprisonment and child development continue to worsen.

The committee has received close to 1,000 submissions, many detailing the toll of racism — especially on children and families. Despite the role the government plays in key decisions impacting First Peoples across the country, only the Tasmanian Government has appeared before the inquiry in an official capacity.

Ms Liddle said governments were investing in the "wrong places" and moving "too slowly" to hold mainstream organisations accountable.

"With the most recent release of Closing the Gap data, we have seen scant progress," she said. "In some cases, the targets that focus on our children are going backwards. These statistics are not accidental, and they are not inevitable.

"Cultural competence should not be optional. It must be mandated, part of the way staff are trained, part of the way services operate."

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