Introduction by Croakey: The Northern Territory Government has been strongly condemned for pushing through child protection laws this week that many experts say will undermine the safety, health and wellbeing of Aboriginal children.
The laws were opposed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies, legal services, health services and human rights organisations, and Federal and State Ministers from several jurisdictions.
The laws, described by the Finocchiaro CLP Government as “the most significant overhaul of the Territory’s child protection system in a generation”, weaken the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, which ensures culture, family, community and Country are central to child protection decision making.
The National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Sue-Anne Hunter, said the laws “will only have negative impacts on the care, safety and protection of First Nations children in the NT”.
“This decision is one Aboriginal families and communities across the Northern Territory will carry for generations,” she said in a statement.
“The Northern Territory Government has blatantly ignored the 120 submissions made from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies, legal services, health services and human rights organisations.
“They have ignored the continued calls from Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and child protection experts. They have ignored the Child Protection Ministers from across the country.”
Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss and National Children’s Commissioner Deb Tsorbaris warned that the human rights of children in NT are at greater risk as a result.
The day before the bill was passed, Federal Ministers for Social Services, together with Ministers from Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, NSW, ACT and Victoria, issued a joint statement reaffirming support for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, saying the NT laws would be detrimental to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
Meanwhile, Rob McPhee, the CEO of Danila Dilba, yesterday issued the statement below explaining why he resigned as the Independent Aboriginal Chair of the Northern Territory Children and Families Tripartite Forum.
Statement by Rob McPhee
I accepted this role in 2023 because I believed the Forum represented an important opportunity for genuine partnership between the Northern Territory and Commonwealth Government, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and the broader community sector to improve outcomes for children, young people and families.
As Independent Chair, my responsibility was to facilitate respectful, transparent and good faith collaboration between all partners. Unfortunately, I no longer believe the conditions exist for the Forum to fulfil that purpose.
Over the past two years, it has become increasingly evident that the Northern Territory Government is not committed to genuine partnership with the Forum on significant policy and legislative reform.
Rather than drawing on the expertise of frontline services, Aboriginal organisations, researchers and practitioners, major decisions have increasingly been developed within government with limited engagement and little regard for the evidence presented by those working directly with children and families.
One of the Forum’s key responsibilities was to oversee implementation of the 10-Year Generational Strategy for Children and Families – a landmark reform arising from the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.
The Strategy was developed through extensive consultation involving more than 340 contributors, including 102 organisations and community groups, and represented a genuine partnership between government, Aboriginal organisations and the community sector.
The decision by the Northern Territory Government in 2025 to discontinue the Strategy without replacing it with an alternative long-term strategy or governance framework removed the Territory’s primary mechanism for shared accountability, long-term planning and collaborative governance for children and families. Since then, significant policy and legislative reforms have continued to be developed without meaningful engagement through the Tripartite Forum.
This failure is particularly concerning given that Aboriginal children make up around 90 percent of all children in the Northern Territory out-of-home care system. Their profound overrepresentation demands stronger partnership with Aboriginal communities, not less.
Governments across Australia have committed through the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021–2031 to work in genuine partnership with Aboriginal people, strengthen Aboriginal community-controlled services, share decision-making and address the underlying social and economic factors that contribute to child protection involvement. The Tripartite Forum was intended to reflect these commitments in practice.
Erosion of partnership
Instead, I have witnessed a growing departure from those commitments. The erosion of genuine partnership is inconsistent with the Closing the Gap Priority Reforms, particularly the commitment to formal partnerships and shared decision-making with Aboriginal people.
It also risks shifting the focus away from prevention and early intervention and away from addressing the root causes of child protection involvement, including housing insecurity, poverty, family violence, health inequity, education and intergenerational disadvantage.
The most recent example is the amendments to the Care and Protection of Children Act NT.
Every witness appearing before the Parliamentary Scrutiny Committee agreed that the Northern Territory’s child protection system required urgent reform. However, the overwhelming evidence from frontline organisations, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, legal experts, researchers and child welfare specialists was that the proposed legislation should be paused to enable genuine consultation and co-design.
Of the 150 submissions received by the Committee, approximately 120 opposed the Bill or raised significant concerns. Many argued that, while reform is essential, the proposed amendments risk increasing government intervention without adequately addressing the underlying causes of family vulnerability or protecting Aboriginal children’s connection to family, community and culture.
Despite this breadth of evidence, the legislation was passed this week without any amendment or consideration of the advice provided through the scrutiny process. During the Inquiry, members of the Committee also publicly dismissed and, at times, mocked expert witnesses, including one member describing witnesses as “morally bankrupt”. This does not reflect the respectful, transparent and evidence-informed decision-making that the Tripartite Forum was established to promote.
I was also deeply saddened by the recent resignation of Northern Territory Children’s Commissioner Shahleena Musk. Since her appointment, she has been a strong and independent advocate for the Territory’s most vulnerable children. Her resignation represents a significant loss for the Northern Territory.
This decision has not been made lightly.
Throughout my career, I have believed that better outcomes for Aboriginal children and families are achieved when governments work in genuine partnership with Aboriginal organisations, communities and independent experts. Good policy is strengthened – not weakened – by listening to evidence, respecting different perspectives and designing reforms collaboratively.
My decision is ultimately about accountability to Aboriginal children and families. When Aboriginal children comprise almost 90 percent of the out-of-home care system, governments have a responsibility to honour their commitments under Closing the Gap and Safe and Supported, to share decision-making with Aboriginal people, and to focus on evidence-based reforms that prevent children entering the system in the first place.
I remain committed to advocating for a child protection system that is evidence-based, culturally safe and genuinely developed in partnership with Aboriginal people.
However, I cannot continue to chair a partnership forum when the fundamental principles of partnership, transparency and good faith are no longer being upheld.
See Croakey’s archive of articles on the cultural determinants of health
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