Former New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb, who has connections with staff in the Chief Minister’s office, has been appointed by the CLP Government to lead an “independent review” into the Territory’s child protection system, along with former acting ICAC Greg Shanahan, which was called this morning in response to the abduction and alleged murder of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs.

The review comes amid controversial proposed reforms to the Care and Protection of Children Act by the CLP that would introduce a new “universal principle” to make child safety the primary consideration when determining where a child lives.

Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill said the inquiry will thoroughly examine the Department of Children and Families and its child protection processes, including whether current legislation “created an environment where we haven’t actually been progressing investigations in the way that the community would expect that we do”.

The review follows a report in The Australian last week that revealed the five-year-old girl was the subject of over a dozen child protection notifications since she was an infant, with six of those reports made between mid-March and just two days before she was abducted from Old Timers camp outside Alice Springs, with no apparent action by the department taken.

Three child protection staff were stood down last week over the failure to act, while the Minister said they remained stood down.

Ms Webb, who was the first female commissioner of the NSW Police, resigned from her position in September of last year following a challenging three-year term. She had earned recognition for her efforts in addressing domestic violence, including the creation of a domestic and family violence registry and had more recently advised the NSW Government on domestic violence matters.

During her rocky tenure as commissioner, Ms Webb hired crisis communications adviser Megan Miller, who left that role last September to take up the job as Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s communication director.

Ms Cahill’s office did not reply to a question about whether she was told to appoint Ms Webb by the Chief Minister or anyone in her office.

Mr Shanahan, a senior NT public servant for decades, was appointed acting ICAC by Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro in December 2024 despite his connections to some of the most powerful public servants in the Territory over the last 30 years in various roles. He later left that role.

At a press conference Wednesday morning, Ms Cahill said Ms Webb and Mr Shanahan had the experience to conduct the review.

“Together they will provide a really cohesive team, with solid background to ensure that we can get to the heart of what has gone on in this particular situation,” she said.

The review will begin next week and is expected to be completed within three months.

Controversial changes to child protection act flagged

Ms Cahill also announced the introduction of new child protection legislation in Parliament, that would reform the Care and Protection of Children Act, which she said would tackle existing systemic, cultural, resource, and legal shortcomings in the Territory’s child welfare system.

The proposed legislative changes will see short-term protection orders reduced to a maximum of two years “to provide long-term certainty”; a “strict structure” of measures that must be met and upheld for children assessed at risk of being removed; and children now “guaranteed access to independent legal representation”.

Ms Cahill said the new legislation prioritises safety for children in care, with a strong emphasis on protecting them from harm and exploitation and stressed the changes would “absolutely not” result in the removal of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, which recognises connection to country, culture and community for Indigenous children.

But she said that while acknowledging the importance of kinship, community, and cultural ties for Aboriginal children, safety measures will take priority over those factors.

“The on-going cycle of harm, risk and uncertainty needs to be addressed and the only way to achieve that is to put the basic human rights of a child’s safety before anything else,” she said.

“Under these amendments there will be more consistent support and better outcomes for both children and their families.

“Every child matters regardless of where they come from, their race or religion, I am not prepared to turn a blind eye and abandon another generation of families and children.”

Ms Cahill voiced concerns about the anxiety among workers regarding accusations of racism when intervening to remove Aboriginal children from harmful situations. She also highlighted the fear of being labelled as perpetuating another Stolen Generation, but said every child’s safety needs to be protected.

“Where it is safe to do so we want children with their families, but where it is not, we will act decisively to give children the permanency, stability and care they deserve,” she said.

Independent MLA Yingiya Guyula condemned the government’s proposed reforms in a statement Wednesday, arguing they will not “make our children safer” and calling for the CLP Government to consult with Aboriginal communities.

“This government are continuing to attack our people and culture under the guise of protecting the children. We have seen this before and we know the pain and dysfunction that it delivers,” he said.

Mr Guyula added the proposed changes would effectively remove the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle and would see children permanently placed under the legal guardianship of the Northern Territory if reunification with family cannot be achieved within two years.

“Our children need protection and connection – only together do these two things truly create safety,” he said.

“This government are saying ‘We know what’s best for you’. They have decided that our culture, our language, and our land are not important for our children.”

In a joint statement with 330 organisations, the Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT (APONT) and the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) said they opposed any legislative changes that would remove or dilute the placement principle and cautioned against lowering the threshold for removing children and “fast-tracking” long-term placements.

“We strongly reject the NT Government’s deliberate portrayal of Aboriginal families, communities, and culture as a risk to children’s safety,” APONT chief executive Theresa Roe said.

Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said Ms Cahill and the CLP should listen to the objections of Indigenous groups, as well as the NT and national children’s commissioners.

“I do think they are very much experts in this space,” she told ABC Radio Darwin.