Inquiry into removal of Indigenous children in South Australia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

"Indefensible", "disempowering" and "traumatising". That's how South Australia's Child Protection Department has described claims it’s removing newborn Aboriginal babies deemed at risk, without their mothers' knowledge. The state's Aboriginal Children's Commissioner is investigating the allegations as part of an 18-month-long inquiry into the removal of First Nations children in South Australia.

Transcript

00:00 For almost a decade, Mitzi Nam worked in SA's health sector, supporting pregnant First Nations

00:07 women identified by child protection authorities. She says about half of the women had their

00:13 babies removed within hours or weeks after birth.

00:17 The mothers are birthing these babies, you know, get that skin to skin contact, not to

00:24 mention carrying them for nine months and then not knowing that it's plotted along

00:29 the way that they won't even have these children once they're born.

00:33 Ms Nam says she left her job five years ago, feeling culturally unsafe.

00:39 It's happened for so many generations and it still continues to happen.

00:44 There are things that occur that one could only explain as being terribly cruel.

00:49 SA's Aboriginal Children's Commissioner says she's spoken to mothers whose babies were

00:54 removed at public hospitals without their knowledge.

00:58 We heard that hospital staff are told not to tell the new mother that her baby is about

01:05 to be removed. What do you have to say about that practice?

01:10 I'll always defend the work of our staff but I'll never defend the indefensible and what

01:16 you've described. I can't find a rational response to support that action. It's disempowering,

01:24 it's traumatising and it's not necessary in our compliance with the legislation. I would

01:29 genuinely apologise to those families for that experience. It's unacceptable.

01:34 Of the 24 newborns removed by SA's Child Protection Department last year, one quarter

01:39 were Aboriginal. That's despite Aboriginal children representing just 5% of the state's

01:45 total child population.

01:47 We would probably prefer those removals not to happen in a birthing hospital.

01:52 SA Health has launched an audit of the number of newborns removed at birth due by the end

01:57 of the year.

01:58 [no audio]

02:22 Hello.

02:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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