Kumanjayi Little Baby review finds widespread NT child protection failures

An independent review tabled in Northern Territory parliament on 20 October found extensive failings in the child protection department’s handling of Kumanjayi Little Baby’s case before her death in Alice Springs, ABC News reported. The NT government accepted all 45 recommendations, including a call to change how the department responds to risks to children.

Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill commissioned the review in April, weeks after the five-year-old was allegedly abducted and murdered, according to ABC News. The Guardian reported that former New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb and senior public servant Greg Shanahan conducted the review.

What the review found about safety assessments

Cahill told parliament that the department rated the child’s safety at two out of 10 and found ‘no signs of safety’ after an August 2022 incident in which her mother was assaulted and the child, then 16 months old, was struck on the head, ABC News reported. The minister said the case remained open for 229 days without a tangible improvement, even after a January 2023 assessment recorded growing concern about the child’s vulnerability. She said no domestic and family violence risk assessment was carried out despite an escalating pattern of violence.

The safety plan relied on adults in the family’s network, but the review found no evidence that police or background checks were done on them, the Guardian reported. One adult later proved to have a violent criminal history that included five counts of threatening to kill. ABC News quoted the review as saying the department did not routinely make formal police or intelligence checks on people families nominated for that role.

Why the reviewers called for a system-wide reset

The review said the failings could not be treated solely as an individual case management failure, ABC News reported. It identified broader, connected shortcomings in the child protection system and called for a ‘system-wide reset’, with leaders moving away from a predominantly reactive response to notifications of harm.

Cahill said she had received multiple briefs about children taken into care. She described gaps in policy, process and how risks to children were assessed, ABC News reported.

The Guardian reported that an interim review released in July could not establish a link between matters referred to the department and the circumstances leading to the child’s alleged abduction. Police charged Jefferson Lewis, 47, with murder. He has yet to enter a plea and is due back in Alice Springs Local Court in December, according to ABC News.