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Three employees from Northern Territory’s child protection services have been suspended as part of a government probe into the events leading up to the tragic death of Kumanjayi Little Baby.
Robyn Cahill, the NT’s child protection minister, has requested detailed information from the department concerning their previous engagements with the deceased child’s family.
Cahill reportedly received a delayed briefing on Friday, during which she was informed that the child protection department had been alerted six times about concerns for Kumanjayi Little Baby’s safety in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.
“The staff have been suspended pending an investigation into their actions, or lack thereof, regarding this case,” Cahill stated to the Australian Associated Press.
“I am calling for an independent investigation from someone who is removed from the existing situation so we can have total accuracy and be sure that we are getting the information that we need to get to understand how this failure could happen,” she earlier told Sky News.
A full investigation into how the department handled Kumanjayi Little Baby’s case will take place and the NT children’s commissioner has been asked to run an independent investigation.
Nine.com.au does not suggest any wrongdoing by the child protection staff members, only that they have been stood down.
Kumanjayi Little Baby – the name used in line with cultural tradition after her death – vanished from a home in a town camp in Alice Springs on April 25.
Her disappearance triggered a massive land and air search across central Australia until her body was found on April 30.
Jefferson Lewis, 47, has been accused of murdering the five‑year‑old girl near Alice Springs.
He was expected to appear in Alice Springs Local Court yesterday via video link from custody in Darwin but his appearance was excused.
No application for bail was made, and the case was adjourned to July 30.
The alleged murder horrified the tight‑knit community, many of whom spent anxious days scouring creek beds and scrub for the missing girl before her body was found in bushland outside the town five days after she disappeared.
Lewis was arrested at another Alice Springs town camp after being beaten unconscious by locals.
Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy told ABC’s 7.30 it was important to remember Kumanjayi was very loved by her family, who were in deep mourning and did not want her death to be turned into a political fight.
For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).