Ghosts of past reports linger for NT child protection review

Poring over the 62 pages of the Independent Review into the Conduct of the Department of Children and Families report and its 45 recommendations, a multitude of systemic issues for the Northern Territory are made clear.

Underneath all of these complex challenges remains a key issue: accountability.

It's a question that threads through a growing mountain of reports and their hundreds of recommendations made over many decades, detailing failures in reducing harm for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

The NT government has committed to acting on all recommendations as a first step.

But the question remains: who has responsibility for making the changes to ensure children are kept safe?

Which leads to a further question.

What are the consequences if change does not happen?

Without an answer to these questions, communities are stuck with the status quo, or worse, having the wrong response applied without adequate means to correct course.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss has acknowledged the NT government's response, emphasising the need for "implementation that delivers lasting change".

Commissioner Kiss also remarked that "the NT government still has not implemented the recommendations of the 2017 Royal Commission into child protection".

Currently, the consequences of inaction and inappropriate responses are evident in the Closing the Gap measures that remain locked in place, or widening on many counts.

Youth crime, child removal, family and domestic violence patterns across Australia point to significant, systemic flaws in the way those with authority exercise their power.

This was made heartbreakingly clear in the alleged murder of Kumanjayi Little Baby.

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the image of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of her family.

Tackling the problem at the root

The review's co-authors singled out the immediate need for an audit into current safety plans. This will ensure the appropriate people are given safety roles for the protection of children in the NT.

In the case of Kumanjayi Little Baby, the review found that one person in her family's safety network had a "long criminal history of violence, including five counts of threaten to kill".

Media reports and comments made in NT parliament have named this person as the man now charged with Kumanjayi Little Baby's murder. 

Information such as this is of critical importance, so that all steps taken by authorised officers are based on relevant and appropriate processes.

But the co-authors were also determined to say that "the review does not suggest that a prior conviction, of itself, necessarily renders a person unsuitable" for a protective role.

Developing a clear mechanism for assessing the risk — the nature of which type of conviction represents a relevant threat — will be essential.

For a community with high rates of interaction with police, the justice system and incarceration, understanding the implications of this step is significant. 

As is recognising the highly mobile and overcrowded nature of many households in communities across the NT. 

These considerations sit within a broader landscape that presents myriad challenges for the most vulnerable.

We see children born into families facing significant disadvantage and dysfunction, where even the most basic needs, such as finding a home or shelter and having a means of getting there, are hard to access and becoming more so.

This month has seen the 400-bed YiSSA short-stay accommodation centre closed in Darwin, while the Bush Bus service, which operates between remote communities and Alice Springs, has had funding cut.

Dealing with this is hard enough.

But, as the review also revealed, "the current practice places significant responsibility on the non-offending parent to protect the child" — a burden the parent carries while their own safety is in jeopardy.

National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Sue-Anne Hunter, puts the onus on the Department of Children and Families.

"The question that needed answering was what the department did with what it knew. Responsibility for violence sits with the people who use it. Responsibility for the response sits with the department. It should never sit with a victim."

It's a view echoed by Muriel Bamblett, the chair of SNAICC, the peak body for community-controlled Indigenous children's services. She highlights the work of violence reduction programs in Victoria that tackle the problem at the root.

"In Victoria, we've got violence reduction now […] It has to take a public health approach."

Rushed remedies

There is much to consider around community and child safety and, with lives in the balance, it is worth looking at the record set so far.

One case stands out: the Northern Territory Emergency Response, or NT Intervention.

When the Howard government suspended Australia's Racial Discrimination Act on June 21, 2007, military units were deployed to discrete Aboriginal communities.

The decision came after the release of the Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle "Little Children Are Sacred" report, led by Pat Anderson and Rex Wild QC.

Tasked with inquiring into the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse, the co-chairs delivered a comprehensive 316-page report with 97 recommendations.

Clear guidance was provided: "In the first recommendation, we have specifically referred to the critical importance of governments committing to genuine consultation with Aboriginal people in designing initiatives for Aboriginal communities, whether these be remote, regional or urban settings." 

That never happened. The legislation was rushed through in two months.

Ten years later, Anderson described the NT Intervention response as a "betrayal" that had led to "further abuse of Aboriginal people. That's what the intervention was".

The NT Intervention framework ended in July 2022 but stands as a stark reminder of the long-lasting impacts that can emerge when change is made without proper consideration of the recommendations.

This is something certainly worth remembering as the wheels turn once again on resolving this most enduring set of challenges.