Experts on child protection in Australia stated that the proposed changes to child protection laws negatively impact indigenous children, marking them as discriminatory and "extraordinarily harmful." According to documents received by the Australian Child Protection Association, the Northern Territory government plans to amend child protection laws to present courts and the department with full child and family information based on national guiding principles concerning the care of Aboriginal children.
Existing laws ensure the protection of indigenous children in care, including their placement in families or with relatives. However, within the legislation framework, a point about "special and exceptional circumstances" will be added. According to widespread sector-accepted documents, the Child and Family Department indicates that "the court may take an evaluatory approach in departing from the principle in special or exceptional circumstances" if it considers that this negatively affects the child.
The principle of caring for Aboriginal children was developed to establish exemplary national standards for caring for Aboriginal children after a series of reports over the past 30 years, including a 1997 report. Currently, over 90% of children in care in the Northern Territory are representatives of indigenous peoples. The General Director of the Aboriginal Legal Service in Northern Australia, belonging to the 'Warlpiri' people, Syndi Torrens, stated that the proposed amendments "could erode the purpose of the law."
She added that "the child protection system in the Northern Territory has faced an alarming number of requests and reports, including the Coroner's Commission," and continued: "These reports constantly remind us of the connection our children have with their culture, families, community, and land, highlighting their safety and well-being." Torrens noted that just two months ago, since the moment of the recommendation from the medical expert, the principle of working with Aboriginal children has not been implemented after the tragic death of a six-month-old child in foster care, stating: "We urgently need to fix this broken system and change the injustices that historically existed between protected children and our families."
