Australian Childhood Foundation warns NT child protection Bill risks harming the children it aims to protect

29 May 2026 – Australian Childhood Foundation has provided a submission to the NT Legislative Assembly Committee Inquiry warning that, in its current form, the Every Child Matters Bill 2026 will not improve outcomes for children.

“This Bill expands the government’s power to intervene in family life without investing in the services, workforce or community partnerships that actually keep children safe,” said Janise Mitchell, CEO of Australian Childhood Foundation.

The Foundation’s concerns are serious. The Bill lowers the threshold for intervention without ensuring access to housing, therapeutic support or culturally safe services. It introduces compliance-based mechanisms that risk being experienced as punitive, reducing trust and discouraging the very help-seeking behaviour that protects children.

It does not adequately distinguish between perpetrators and victim-survivors of domestic and family violence. Further, of particular concern is that this proposed bill risks undermining the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle in a jurisdiction that already has the lowest rates of kinship placement in Australia, with only 16 to 18 per cent of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care placed with relatives or kin.

“You cannot accelerate children into a care system that is already at breaking point and call it child safety,” added Janise Mitchell.

The Foundation recommends that reform be progressed through a staged and collaborative approach, including meaningful consultation with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, and targeted amendments to ensure the Bill supports engagement, cultural safety and relational practice rather than compliance-driven responses.

“Aboriginal community-controlled organisations must be at the table. Reform co-designed with communities is reform that will actually work,” she said.

The full submission is available at: https://parliament.nt.gov.au/committees/list/legislative-scrutiny-committee/67-2026

Media enquiries:

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