The Australian Greens say the Northern Territory Government pushed through child protection reforms that will do nothing to keep children safer.
The changes were passed to weaken the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle despite expert opposition and a joint statement from Australia’s Child Safety Ministers and the National Commissioner for First Nations Children and Young People.
They clearly state that the principle does not override safety concerns; it recognises that connection to family, community and Country can be critical to keeping Aboriginal children safe.
The laws also ignore priority recommendations of the Webb-Shanahan interim review of the NT child protection system, released yesterday. The review identified systemic failures including inadequate risk assessments, incomplete investigations, workforce shortages and poor responses to family and domestic violence.
As stated by Senator Larissa Waters, Leader of the Australian Greens and spokesperson for First Nations Justice:
“This Act is another example of the NT Government choosing racist dogwhistling over evidence-based policy. They’ve ignored the experts on youth incarceration, housing, the environment and now child safety.
“The evidence is clear. Weakening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle won’t keep children safe. Fixing chronic failures in the child protection system will.
“The Webb-Shanahan review points to real problems: under-resourcing, workforce shortages, failures to investigate risks and inadequate responses to family and domestic violence. That’s what the NT Government should be focused on.
“Aboriginal women, families and communities have been clear about what works. Keeping children safe requires Aboriginal leadership and self-determination, not political scapegoating.
“Australia is going backwards on Closing the Gap and these changes will make that worse. In the Northern Territory, First Nations children are more than 13 times more likely to be in out-of-home care, and the Territory has the lowest rate of kinship care in the country.
“The Federal Government should consider withholding Closing the Gap funding while the NT Government continues to undermine national commitments and ignore the evidence on keeping Aboriginal children safe.
“These laws were developed in response to the tragic death of Kumanjayi Little Baby. We owe it to her, her family and her community to follow the evidence about how to prevent violence against Aboriginal women and children, not exploit that tragedy to justify laws that experts say will cause more harm.
