Kumanjayi Little Baby review: The NT Government’s new child protection laws target Aboriginal children and ignore what the review found

Friday 23 October, 2026 – Australian Childhood Foundation says the independent review into the death of five-year-old Warlpiri girl Kumanjayi Little Baby is a devastating account of a system that failed a child, her mother and her family over and over again.

The review found the Department of Children and Families was notified more than a dozen times about Kumanjayi, starting before she was born, and had “repeated opportunities over a number of years” to act on the family violence permeating her life. It made 45 recommendations and called for a system-wide reset.

“The need for a system-wide reset are clear. What that re-set should be must be further developed in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leaders and Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisations. Their voices were missing from the review, but they must not be missing from the development of solutions that are integral to the future safety and wellbeing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in the Northern Territory. Failure to do so repeats the failures of past reviews and risks ongoing systems failures.” said Australian Childhood Foundation CEO Janise Mitchell.

“The challenges the recommendations must address are complex and cannot be solved without the knowledge and expertise of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders. The solutions must address the underlying drivers for the over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people involved with children protection. Child protection is and always should be the safety net of last resort. Where this involvement is required is must be equipped to undertake its role effectively, underpinned by a culturally strong and trauma informed workforce. However, the investment must be in earlier intervention where vulnerability and risk accumulates, delivered in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait community leaders and organisations.” Says Ms Mitchell

The Foundation supports calls from National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Sue-Anne Hunter’s and other key community leaders for the lessons from the review to be acted on in partnership with Aboriginal organisations.

Australian Childhood Foundation is calling on the Northern Territory Government to:

• Implement all 45 recommendations in partnership with, and with funding for, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations
• Invest in recruiting, training and retaining a culturally strong skilled child protection workforce
• Strengthen early intervention, family support, family violence and housing services

Media enquiries:

Gina Dafalia
PR and Communications
Phone: 0447558195
Email: gdafalia@childhood.org.au