00:02Little Chloe's bedroom has never been slept in
00:05and her toys are still to be played with.
00:08The three-year-old, whose name has been changed for legal reasons,
00:11has lived in foster care since she was five days old.
00:15Her parents say she was taken over concerns
00:18about her father's criminal history.
00:20Pretty much they just took her, like, no notice,
00:23no donations, just handed me some paperwork
00:26and that was basically about it.
00:28Until Chloe turned two,
00:31her parents say they were allowed to visit her
00:33and their two-year-old son weekly.
00:36But when she started showing up with visible injuries,
00:40they became increasingly worried she was being abused.
00:44She'd show up with bad nappies,
00:46then it progressed from that to then severe bruising,
00:48to the bite mark injuries and then to the black eyes
00:51and she'd randomly start having outbursts trying to hit us,
00:55swearing at us, calling us names
00:57and just basically screaming,
00:59help me, help me.
01:00After raising this with the Northern Territory's
01:03Department of Children and Families,
01:05the toddler's parents claim they were punished
01:08for voicing their concerns
01:09and their pathway towards reunification became more difficult.
01:14The ABC put detailed questions to the department,
01:18but a spokesperson said in a statement,
01:21while it could not comment, the safety, well-being
01:24and protection of children is always our highest priority.
01:28With the national spotlight firmly
01:31on the Northern Territory's child protection sector,
01:33experts are warning controversial amendments to the NT's laws,
01:37including a two-year limit on short-term protection orders,
01:40could set a dangerous precedence for children like Chloe across the country.
01:45This proposed legislative change in the Northern Territory
01:48is going to wind back Australian child protection systems
01:52and potentially the practice itself by at least 20 to 30 years.
01:57When you impose this time limit,
01:59if parents are not able to get their children back within those two years,
02:04you risk damaging children's long-term safety and wellbeing.
02:07It's unfortunate that we've already been fired in four years,
02:13so no, I don't believe it's fair at all,
02:16and then especially for other families.
02:19There's not enough support in place for families.
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