We asked teens what they thought of sweeping changes to child protection laws

Tiwi Island teenagers reflect on changes to NT child protection laws Surrounded by the ocean, where eucalypt forest stretches from the sand to meet the sky, the Tiwi Islands are a living library for the young people who call it home. Etched into the landscape are guides on how to live off the land and language that describes their way of life, all of which has taught kids their traditional customs over generations. The island and its community hold the knowledge that tells the story of each family and how they're connected. But there are fears these connections to kin and culture are under threat. These fears are acutely felt by 17-year-old Tiwi Island girls Shanina Kantilla and Tahni Thompson, who are cousins on their mother's side. Even when they're hundreds of kilometres from home, the islands are never far from their minds. Shanina recalls a happy childhood spent camping, hunting, swimming and fishing. "It's very important, especially starting from a young age, learning about our culture, skin groups and also our country … where we inherit our tribes, the sacred sites, ceremony," she said. Tahni also feels a deep connection to being Tiwi, having returned after spending part of her childhood in Darwin. "It's like my safe place. Whenever I go to other places, I always feel homesick," she said. Life on the Tiwi Islands The Tiwi Islands is known for many things — vibrant artwork, secluded fishing spots and die-hard footy fans — with some of Australia's most renowned AFL players coming out of the region. "We have a local league of AFL and it gets really hectic around those times," Tahni said. Tiwi culture is also embedded in the girls' schooling, with weekly lessons on country. But the real tutoring starts young and comes from within families — grandparents, parents, aunties and uncles. Shanina's pride in her family traditions shines through as she explains how she's been taught to take wood from the local paper bark trees to weave into baskets. "We scrape all the wood out and when we're done, we have to boil it and then we fold it, and let it sit for about two, three hours," she said. "Once it dries up, we come back and start doing our traditional paintings." Both girls are well aware past government policies prevented this cultural knowledge from being passed down. "Since the missionaries came, they just changed everything," Tahni said. "Some of the kids on the other island, [due to] the [Stolen] Generations, don't really speak Tiwi." From the early 1900s, Catholic missions on the Tiwi Islands controlled much of daily life, influencing where people lived, who they married and the upbringing of their children. For many families, the policies disrupted the transmission of language, cultural practices and traditional knowledge. Today, cultural disconnection can take different forms. Tahni knows this firsthand. Growing up away from her homelands, she felt as though a part of her identity was missing until she returned to the Tiwi Islands. "I wouldn't want to be taken away from my family," she said. "I would want to stay with them forever." Deflating the 'political football' On the other side of the territory's coastline, as thousands gathered for the Garma festival, First Nations people voiced fears of a renewed to kinship systems and culture. Just weeks before, the Northern Territory government announced changes to child protection laws which critics said weakened the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle. National Indigenous children's commissioner Sue-Anne Hunter was among those fearing it would lead to more children removed from their communities. "I'm not here in a battle, I'm here to protect our children and make sure they're safe," she said. "I feel like it's a bit of political football for everybody, and that's not what our kids should be." The child placement principle aims to keep Aboriginal children connected to family, community and culture when they enter care. It prioritises placing children with family in the first instance, then the child's own First Nations community and then other First Nations carers. But under the NT changes, introduced after the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby, the government no longer needs to try to place a child with their community or a First Nations carer if they can't be placed with family. Sue-Anne Hunter sees devastating echoes of the past. "No-one is saying that our children need to be unsafe. If a child needs to be removed, then that's the fact. The thing is that culture is part of safety. It's their identity," she said. "Maybe they [the NT government] need to have a discussion with some Stolen Generation people about how being disconnected affected their lives." Ms Hunter spent much of her time at Garma hearing directly from young people, many of whom told her they were anxious about the changes. "It's front of mind for youth as well," she said. "We need to be investing in the front end. Family support, getting into families early, not waiting until we're ready to remove them." A spokesperson for the NT government denied the changes were weakening protections for Aboriginal children. "These reforms — designed after extensive consultation — created a Universal Child Placement Principle so the same strong provisions apply to every child," they said. "Additional provisions have been retained for Aboriginal children that reflect their cultural needs and connection to family, community and country." Child protection isn't the only policy change adding to Ms Hunter's workload. In recent years the NT lowered the age of criminal responsibility and reintroduced spit hoods, the NT, Victoria and Queensland removed the principle of detention as a last resort for children, Victoria and Queensland brought in "adult crime, adult time" laws and nearly all jurisdictions tightened youth bail. Ms Hunter said she wished the politicians who attended Garma, including NT Chief Minister Lia Finochiarro, had asked the next generation what they thought of the changes. "There are a whole lot of people here ready to give some solutions, have some discussions, but it just doesn't seem to be happening," she said. "It would have been nice if [Ms Finochiarro] was able to stay, maybe go into the youth forum and listen to the kids." The NT government spokesperson said lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10 was about "early intervention and community safety". "Strong families, cultural connection and early intervention are the best way to break the cycle of youth crime, alongside clear consequences when offending occurs," they said. 'They are just little kids' Inside the youth forum, Tahni and Shanina reflected on family and friends who had been caught up in the justice system or removed from their families. "Those ones that are under Territory Families [in out-of-home-care], they don't know our culture much because they only come once a year for a visit around the community," Shanina said. "It's hard for them to know who their family is, who they are, and their culture … I feel for them." They were also worried about children as young as 10 being held responsible for crimes. "Ten years old, they're not really teenagers yet, they are just little kids. They aren't mature enough [to understand]," Tahni said. "Instead of sending them away, just discipline them on the island and that way they can learn from their mistakes instead of getting them sent off somewhere else. "[Juvenile detention is] pretty traumatic, and they'll have to carry that trauma for the rest of their lives." The cousins say there are deeper issues affecting young people and punishment isn't the solution. "I think younger children have to do counselling, talk about their feelings … instead of getting frustrated. That causes a lot of problems," Shanina said. As the youth forum began to wind up, Tahni shared her message for the NT government. "Our voice matters," she said. "We don't want [Stolen Generations] to happen again. "If we didn't have culture, we wouldn't know our identity. That's why it's important for us to learn at a young age. "[Otherwise] there might not be any Tiwi people left. There will just be lost generations."