00:01Yeah, hi Lorna. Well, these are changes to the Northern Territory's Child Protection
00:06Framework. So, they canvass many things, including how notifications are made for children
00:13in the system, what the roles, responsibilities and obligations of the government and the
00:18Department of Children's Families are in terms of managing those notifications, what threshold
00:24needs to be met before a child can be removed from their family. So, really significant
00:29pieces of legislation for child protection here in the Northern Territory. The most critical
00:36sort of change to these laws is what the government says is going to be a universal principle which
00:42will be introduced that will mean that child safety will be the number one consideration
00:48for all decision makers when making decisions about children in the system. They say that
00:54this universal principle will exist regardless of a child's background. On the other side of this
01:00debate, those who oppose the bill say that these reforms is going to water down the Aboriginal child
01:07placement principle, which is a nationally endorsed framework to make sure that Aboriginal and Torres
01:14Strait Islander children are kept with their family, kin and community and stay connected to culture.
01:21Okay, what were some of the concerns which were raised there today?
01:26Yeah, so there was quite a large gathering right outside the Northern Territory Parliament here in
01:31Darwin this morning. As you say, there were leaders from various Northern Territory legal services,
01:38including the North Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency, the North Australia Family Legal Service. We
01:44even heard some accounts from those with lived experience of the child protection system. And one of the
01:50messages that sort of was reiterated in each of those speeches that were given this morning
01:57was that there is sort of a common concern that the child protection system here in the Northern
02:02Territory is broken, that it is in crisis and it is failing children here in the Northern Territory,
02:08but that these reforms are really not the way to achieve the change that's needed. Take a listen to what
02:14some of the people who spoke this morning had to say. This is not good law making, this is not
02:19good
02:20decision making, this is not good leadership. Let's make our voices heard. The government continue to
02:27fail to control our people. It's wrong. Shame on them! We must stand up for our rights.
02:34Aboriginal affairs is going to be below the raceline, you know. For too long, we need to start standing up
02:41for our rights.
02:44One of the other concerns which you probably heard there that was reiterated by a number of the speakers,
02:50particularly our Aboriginal leaders who shared their concerns this morning, was that the government
02:54hasn't listened or heeded the concerns that have been raised by Aboriginal organisations who are
03:01concerned that these reforms will have a significant impact on the most vulnerable families in the
03:07Northern Territory and also concerns around just the general lack of consultation with stakeholders,
03:15with those in the system and those particularly in more remote areas of the Northern Territory.
03:20Despite all that, these laws are expected to pass Parliament at some point this evening.
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