'Full picture' missing from Kumanjayi Little Baby review, advocates say

One of Australia's leading Indigenous health care providers says the Webb review into child protection in the Northern Territory is a 'once in-a generation opportunity' to fix the sector.

But success will hinge on a genuine partnership between the government and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. 

"[If] Aboriginal leadership is involved in the decision making and Aboriginal organisations are in partnership with the government, I think this will make a change," Ebony Abbott-McCormack, CEO of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC), said.

"It will ensure that children are provided a safe environment."

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.

CAAC was one of several Indigenous organisations consulted for the review into how the department handled notifications about five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby, who was allegedly abducted and murdered in April this year.

The report found "repeated opportunities over a number of years to consider the child's circumstances in the context of an ongoing pattern of domestic and family violence" but failed to act in a timely manner.

Instead, it said, the child's mother "was effectively left with the responsibility of protecting her children while experiencing domestic and family violence herself".

"It's a tragic event that can't be taken in vain, but I believe that now there's been this line in the sand that says it can't continue and this is to not happen to another child," said Ms Abbott-McCormack.

She said the review was only focused on the child protection department, which is just "one part of the jigsaw puzzle".

"We do know that there is so much work to do around the social determinants and that is something that Congress works at a holistic level to do."

Sue Anne Hunter, the national First Nations children's commissioner, also said the review's scope was too limited and did not interrogate the full circumstances of Kumanjayi Little Baby's life and death.

She is now calling for a broader commission of inquiry.

"We're not getting a full picture," the proud Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman told the ABC this week.

"There are housing issues, there's health issues, there's justice issues, but [the report] only concentrates on one system."

Commissioner Hunter said the report did not adequately consider the family's culture, identity or kin, and did not draw on the knowledge of First Nations organisations.

"If we're talking about an Aboriginal child we need to take the whole-of-community approach and we need those put into the report."

Dr Chay Brown, a gender-based violence expert who works in the Territory, said the review had a 'misplaced focus' on Kumanjayi Little Baby's mother.

"[That] is really problematic because if victim survivors of domestic sexual violence fear that their children will be removed for seeking help … why would they ever reach out for help again?," she said.

"The purpose of the report was more about supporting the broader political aims of the CLP government, rather than truly taking a moment to reflect on how all systems failed this family."

Report co-author Karen Webb, a former New South Wales police commissioner, this week told 7.30 the department did not do enough to help connect Kumanjayi Little Baby's mother to support services.

"They did put too much pressure on mum really when she was under pressure, so she needed more support," she said.

"If there's an investment at the front end in terms of early intervention, you might change something in that child's life that reduces the demand at the reactive end."

The ABC put questions to the NT Minister for Children and Families, Robyn Cahill, but did not receive a response by deadline.

Indigenous culture 'never the issue'

Congress and the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) both pointed out the review does not mention the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle (ACPP).

"Not one of the 45 recommendations calls for changes to the law," NAAJA CEO Ben Grimes said in a statement.

Earlier this year, the NT government passed changes to the child protection laws which critics say weakened the ACPP, which is designed to keep children connected to their family, culture and community.

The government said Kumanjayi Little Baby's case showed child protection laws were failing children and introduced a "universal principle" that decisions should be made in "the best interests of every child … regardless of background".

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who is an aunty of Kumanjayi Little Baby, this week accused advocates of the ACPP of taking an "ideological approach".

"They would probably have argued that my niece should not be removed and in the end, we lost her," she said.

Dr Brown said the Webb report showed the ACPP was "never the issue" and Kumanjayi Little Baby's death has been used by the CLP government to drive a political agenda.

"We who walk alongside children and victim survivors every single day have always put safety first," Dr Brown said.

"Politicians have forgotten that at the heart of all of this is a grieving mother who has experienced domestic family sexual violence, who has experienced the worst thing any parent can ever imagine and deserves our support."

A statement from Kumanjayi Little Baby's mother, read at a vigil in May this year, also asked that her daughter's "short life not be used by politicians for reasons that do not honour and respect her".

With Indigenous children over-represented in care, the NT Office of the Children's Commissioner reiterated calls for more preventative services and stronger partnerships with Indigenous organisations.

"Any systemic reform will only be effective and sustainable if it is undertaken in genuine partnership with Aboriginal leaders, communities and organisations," it said in a statement.

Dr Brown said there were "serious gaps" in funding for prevention and early intervention services.

"I think the [NT government] need to really ask themselves, 'how much money is women and children's lives worth?'.