Former NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has been appointed to co-lead an investigation into the Northern Territory’s Department of Children and Families in the wake of the death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby, prompting condemnation from Aboriginal legal services and federal Senator Lidia Thorpe who pointed to Ms Webb’s previous public comments that police accountability for Closing the Gap targets would create “competing duties”.
Five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby disappeared from the Old Timers Town Camp outside Mparntwe (Alice Springs) on 25 April with her body found five days later. Forty-seven-year-old Jefferson Lewis, who is not related to Kumanjayi Little Baby and had no role in her care, has been charged with her murder and two other offences. His case is scheduled for a second mention in Alice Springs Local Court on 30 July.
NT Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill announced earlier this month that three child protection workers had been stood down following the case and that the CLP government would undertake a review into the conduct of the Department of Children and Families. Six notifications about Kumanjayi Little Baby’s welfare were made to the NT child protection department in the six weeks before her disappearance.
The investigation will be led by Ms Webb alongside longtime NT public servant Greg Shanahan. Ms Webb served as NSW Police Commissioner from February 2022 until June 2025 and is the first woman to have held the position.
Senator Thorpe, whose mother played a key role in the 1997 Bringing Them Home report, condemned Ms Webb’s appointment.
“I have no faith in the Northern Territory government – they are racist,” Senator Thorpe said. “The fact they have put cop Karen in charge of an inquiry says it all…it’s absolutely disgraceful.”
A coalition of eight Aboriginal legal and family violence prevention services accused Ms Cahill of misunderstanding the legislation she oversees and of disregarding Aboriginal perspectives.
“Earlier public commentary by the Minister repeatedly suggested that the ATSICPP somehow competes with the safety and well-being of children,” the coalition said. “That proposition is legally incorrect…The Act already makes the best interests of the child the paramount consideration in every child protection decision.”
A human rights lawyer told National Indigenous Times the Minister’s public statements before announcing the review were an “outrageous statement”.
Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy has urged Ms Cahill and the CLP to listen to objections from Indigenous groups and to both the NT and national children’s commissioners.
“I do think they are very much experts in this space” Senator McCarthy told ABC Radio Darwin.
NT Children’s Commissioner Shahleena Musk, a Larrakia woman, has previously offered to lead an independent inquiry with the support of National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Sue-Anne Hunter, an offer the NT government has so far declined.
The investigation is expected to take three months.
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