WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised the following article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died.
A review into the family circumstances of Kumanjayi Little Baby in the lead-up to her death in April has found a number of departmental failures in the way her case was managed.
Five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby disappeared from the Old Timers Town Camp outside Mparntwe / Alice Springs on April 25. Her body was found five days later. Forty-seven-year-old Jefferson Lewis — who is not related to Kumanjayi Little Baby and had no role in her care — has been charged with her murder and two other offences.
In the wake of her death, Northern Territory Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill announced an independent review into the events leading up to her death. It did not examine Mr Lewis, but instead focused on reports made to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) before Kumanjayi Little Baby's alleged abduction.
At the time of her death, Kumanjayi Little Baby's father was in prison facing charges of aggravated assault and domestic violence.
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Rather than a "lack of statutory authority or available protective mechanisms", the review found the key issue in Kumanjayi Little Baby's case was the "timeliness and effectiveness with which risk was identified, assessed and responded to".
"Despite repeated indicators of domestic and family violence, the cumulative impact of the violence and its implications for the child's safety were not adequately recognised, and protective responses were not pursued in a timely manner."
The review, led by former New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb and senior Northern Territory public servant Greg Shanahan, will be tabled in the Northern Territory Parliament on Tuesday, the same day controversial child protection reforms are due to be introduced.
It argued "competing operational priorities, increasing workloads and the absence of sufficiently robust governance mechanisms to monitor timeliness and quality outcomes" may have limited the department's "ability to proactively identify delays, resolve bottlenecks and ensure statutory responsibilities are discharged within appropriate timeframes".
Despite its subject matter, the entire interim review does not mention the word "Aboriginal" or "Indigenous" once.
In response to the review, Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC - National Voice for our Children, said the tragic death of Kumanajayi Little Baby "exposed failures inside the child protection system, not failures of the legislation protecting children's rights or their connection to family and culture".
Citing the NT Government's controversial new child protection laws, she added: "Yet those are the protections the Government has chosen to weaken."
"What is not being addressed is the failures in the corrections and justice systems that saw a violent perpetrator allegedly kill a little girl," she said.
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There were "several child protection notifications" over Kumanjayi Little Baby's life, the report said, based on "alleged domestic violence perpetrated primarily by her father on her mother".
Three child protection workers were stood down after concerns were raised about circumstances in the weeks leading up to Kumanjayi Little Baby's disappearance and death. Two of the workers were reportedly reinstated the following day.
Ms Liddle said the review shows the family was "failed by a child protection system that continues to fail too many Aboriginal children because governments refuse to address the systemic problems we already know exist".
"There is no suggestion in this report that Kumanjayi Little Baby's family were not keeping her safe," she said. "It needs to be clearly understood that this not about her family; it's about broader system failures."
The Webb-Shanahan report made seven draft recommendations:
- The DCF Executive Leadership Team should establish clear governance and accountability arrangements to oversee the implementation of reforms arising from this assessment review, including workforce capability, practice reform, operating model redesign, risk and service delivery improvements.
- Develop and implement an urgent child protection workforce strategy to address critical vacancies, improve recruitment and retention, strengthen workforce capability, and ensure sufficient experienced child protection practitioners are available to undertake statutory protection functions.
- Develop and implement an integrated child protection and domestic and family violence risk assessment approach that ensures DFV-related risks, including cumulative harm, coercive control and the impact of perpetrator behaviour on children and non-offending parents, are appropriately identified and considered in statutory decision-making.
- Strengthen safety planning processes to ensure plans are evidence-based, clearly identify risks, responsibilities, follow-up actions and timeframes, and include appropriate monitoring arrangements to assess whether safety has been achieved and maintained.
- Review and redesign service delivery models to ensure DCF has the capacity and flexibility to respond to current and projected demand, including consideration of alternative practice models for the centralised call centre and regional frontline child protection services.
- Undertake a comprehensive reset of DCF's operating model to ensure its structure, resource allocation, decision-making pathways and workforce arrangements enable the effective and timely delivery of statutory child protection responsibilities under the Care and Protection of Children Act 2007.
- Develop and implement a fit-for-purpose child protection practice framework that clearly aligns with DCF's legislative responsibilities under the Care and Protection of Children Act 2007, provides guidance for statutory decision-making, and supports practitioners to balance family engagement with the need for timely protective intervention where required.
