Vigils Held Across Australia One Week After Death of Five-Year-Old Girl in Alice Springs

Abc reported that the ABC understands two of the workers have since been reinstated. Robyn Cahill stated that in the current Northern Territory child protection legislation, safety is not included in the principles underlying the department's work. She said her focus is ensuring child protection legislation focuses on safety first.

"I was horrified to learn that in our current legislation, in the principles underlying the work that should be done by the department, safety is not even included," Cahill said. Labor member for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour is a former Northern Territory child protection minister. She said that if there were credible reports that Kumanjayi Little Baby was at risk, the department should have acted.

"We need to stop thinking that these little ones can stay in the same at-risk environment," Scrymgour said. Marion Scrymgour said multiple governments had failed to implement recommendations from several reviews into child protection. She said that sometimes internally in the department there is too much conjecture and discussion about the Stolen Generations and that needs to stop.

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said fears of creating more Stolen Generations and the preference for children to remain with kin or family were part of the problem. She said she had always been vilified for speaking about conditions in remote communities and town camps. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price called for a level of inquiry to understand the failings of the child protection system.

Ben Grimes is CEO of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency. He told ABC Radio Darwin there had been a consistent failure within the child protection system to engage well with families in ways that can prevent the removal of children.

Ben Grimes stated that the prison system lacked support for those transitioning out of incarceration and that poor housing infrastructure contributes to child safety issues. Ben Grimes said it is very difficult for children to grow up safely without stable accommodation.

He criticised Northern Territory government leaks revealing that Kumanjayi Little Baby had been the subject of reports to child protection, calling it a significant breach of confidentiality.

Ben Grimes said that whoever breached and leaked the confidential information should be held to account. The article contains an image of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of her family.

Abc reported on the memorials, the ministerial statements and the comments from advocates.