Three child protection workers in the Northern Territory have been stood down pending an investigation into the handling of welfare notifications concerning five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby, who was found dead near Alice Springs last week. The NT child protection minister, Robyn Cahill, confirmed the workers were suspended on Wednesday as part of a probe into 'actions taken, or not taken' in relation to the case.
Kumanjayi Little Baby, a Warlpiri girl, was reported missing by her mother in the early hours of 26 April, about two hours after being put to bed at the Old Timers/Ilyperenye town camp. Her body was discovered on 30 April, approximately 5km from where she was last seen, following a massive search involving police and over 300 volunteers. Jefferson Lewis, 47, has been charged with her murder.
Minister Cahill told News Corp she initially received assurances that there was 'nothing to see here' regarding the girl's case, but later found 'a lot to see' upon requesting a briefing. She expressed concern about a reluctance to remove Aboriginal children from their homes 'for fear of being accused of creating another stolen generation', adding that this cannot be used as an excuse if children are not safe. She has called for a full investigation and for the NT children's commissioner to conduct an independent inquiry.
Data from the 2026 report on government services shows that as of 30 June 2025, 733 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were in out-of-home care in the NT, compared with 90 non-Indigenous children, with Indigenous children removed at over 12 times the rate. Additionally, more than 70% of Indigenous children in out-of-home care in 2022-2023 were not placed with Indigenous relatives or kin, the lowest rate in all jurisdictions.
Catherine Liddle, chief executive of SNAICC, the peak body for Indigenous children, has called for a separate investigation into how media outlets obtained confidential details allegedly from Kumanjayi Little Baby's child protection file. She said publishing those details 'only served to demonise a mother trying to keep herself and her children safe'. Liddle noted that exposure to family violence is a mandatory child protection report in the NT, but this does not necessarily mean a child should be removed. She added that leaking information 'erodes trust in the very system that is meant to keep our children safe'.
