Note: This article includes the names of people who have died.

Western Australia's Commissioner for Children and Young People will release a report on the state's child protection system before the end of the year, but says her office can't undertake inquiries into individual cases.

Dr Jacqueline McGowan-Jones, an Arrente/Warramungu woman, told National Indigenous Times her powers as Commissioner to undertake inquiries and investigations into matters affecting children and young people in WA "must be related to systemic issues" rather than specific cases.

The Commissioner made the comments after inquiries from this publication regarding Jamelia (10), Arnda (seven) and Kelvin Hawke (four months), who were killed in Port Hedland in 2022 by their mother, one day after she was turned away from a women's refuge.

The children's grandmother, Yamatji-Wajarri woman Dorothy Papertalk, is fighting for an inquest to examine why her multiple warnings to authorities did not lead to the removal of the children for their safety.

WA Attorney General Tony Buti maintains his office does not have discretion to order an inquest unless new evidence is available.

Dr McGowan-Jones said any decision to exercise the inquiry powers as Commissioner "must be carefully considered, taking into account existing investigations, the potential value a Commissioner's inquiry could add, and what outcome would best serve children and young people".

"Any inquiry must be related to systemic issues and, as such, I cannot undertake an Inquiry into the Hawke children. I would be interested to see the public release of the Child Death Inquiry into the Hawke children undertaken by the Ombudsman," she said.

"In addition, I have been working on an Inquiry into the broader child protection system for the past 18 months and this report is due for release by the end of this year.

"At this stage, my focus is on ensuring the relevant authorities can complete their work in relation to the Port Hedland child protection issues while continuing to advocate for systemic reform where it is needed."

Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy, former WA Governor Malcolm McCusker QC and former Children's Court President Denis Reynolds have called on the WA Government to ensure an inquest into the case of the Hawke children goes ahead.

Indigenous human rights law expert Dr Hannah McGlade, a member of the Noongar Family Safety and Wellbeing Council, told National Indigenous Times the state's children's Commissioner should investigate the case.

Dr McGlade noted that the recent call from Aboriginal leaders - including National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Sue-Anne Hunter - for Western Australia to establish a dedicated Indigenous children's commissioner and Aboriginal family and children's peak body had not yet received a response from the state government.

The call came from a roundtable held late last month in Boorloo / Perth in the wake of reports first published by The Australian that as many as 15 Aboriginal children were being left alone in poor conditions, often for days at a time, in a Port Hedland home owned by the state.