Report into department's handling of Kumanjayi Little Baby to be released

Report into department's response to Kumanjayi Little Baby to be tabled in NT parliament tomorrow In short: A review of the Northern Territory Department of Children and Families' handling of Kumanjayi Little Baby's contact with the child protection system will be tabled in NT parliament tomorrow. Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill says the report will highlight "systemic issues" within the department. An interim report in July found the department had failed to respond to domestic and family violence in a "timely manner". An independent review into the Northern Territory's Department of Children and Families (DCF) in the wake of Kumanjayi Little Baby's alleged murder will be tabled in parliament tomorrow, highlighting "systemic issues" in the sector. In a statement this afternoon, Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill said the review by former NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb and longtime NT public servant Greg Shanahan was "incredibly extensive". "It identifies a number of systemic issues that will need reform,"Ms Cahill said. "There are more than 40 recommendations which give us a pathway forward to address some of the serious concerns I have had in the child protection space for a very long time." Ms Cahill said the goal of the review was to ensure Territory children were being looked after to "the best of our ability" and that the "tragic case" of Kumanjayi's short life was "not an isolated one". "There are some significant issues around how things have been done and a lack of leadership has left the department struggling," she said. Jefferson Lewis, 47, was charged with the five-year-old girl's murder in May following a five-day manhunt. He is yet to enter a plea and will return to the Alice Springs Local Court in December. Child protection controversy In late April, the body of the missing five-year-old girl, now referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons, was found on the outskirts of the Old Timers town camp in Alice Springs. A week later, reports emerged in the media that the little girl had been subject to child protection notifications prior to her disappearance, with Ms Cahill announcing shortly after that three NT child protection workers had been stood down. At least two of those workers were later reinstated. At the time, Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care chief executive Catherine Liddle urged the minister to investigate "the leaking of information", which she said "only served to demonise a mother trying to keep herself and her children safe". While the review received support, including from federal Labor MP Marion Scrymgour, concerns were raised by then-NT Children's Commissioner Shahleena Musk about the NT government's lack of communication with her and her offer to lead a board of inquiry into the child protection system. Ms Musk said such an inquiry would allow her to examine "interconnected systems" impacting vulnerable families, including housing, family violence, criminal justice and policing, as well as any progress on recommendations from previous inquiries. Separately, the NT government introduced child protection reforms which prompted protests from legal services and domestic violence organisations who argued the bill would lead to more child removals. Ultimately, the laws passed the parliament in mid-July. The interim review On the same day the child protection amendments passed, an interim review of Kumanjayi Little Baby's case was tabled in parliament. Ms Webb and Mr Shanahan's interim report revealed all of the child protection notifications related to Kumanjayi Little Baby were "based on alleged domestic violence perpetrated primary by her father on her mother". But Ms Webb and Mr Shanahan said in the report they were "not able to draw a nexus between the matters referred to DCF and the circumstances leading to [Kumanjayi's] abduction". The interim report also flagged "systemic issues", including the department's failure to respond in a "timely manner" to family violence. Ms Webb and Mr Shanahan made seven interim recommendations, including the need for a "comprehensive reset of the DCF operating model".