SNAICC in the News
10 October–6 November 2026
SNAICC has advocated for nationally consistent standards of care that reflect the importance of culture, after an ABC Four Corners investigation into alleged abuse. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, culturally safe care is part of being safe. SNAICC also said the independent review of the Northern Territory’s child protection system failed to hear from Aboriginal families.
Aboriginal-led preschools keeping language strong. Aboriginal-led child protection bringing children home. Stolen Generations reparations. And more.
Here is a look at where the conversation has been recently.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this edition of SNAICC in the News contains articles that link to coverage that may contain the images of children who have died.
A Better Model in Early Education and Care
Recent reports on ABC Four Corners aired an episode reporting on the challenges in Australia’s early childhood education and care system.
SNAICC’s first concern is for the welfare and recovery of the children who were harmed and their families.
No child should ever be abused in early childhood education and care.
Some Aboriginal community controlled early education services sit outside the National Quality Framework. This does not mean they are not regulated to high standards of quality and safety, but that they are regulated by state and territory governments.
SNAICC welcomes the discussion about the application of the National Quality Framework as part of how children in early learning are kept safe. SNAICC has long advocated for nationally consistent standards of care that reflect the importance of culture.
Ministers are now considering national reforms to childcare.
SNAICC supports calls to bring services into the national system, but it must recognise culture.
Speaking to ABC News reporters Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett and Dylan Welch for the Four Corners coverage, SNAICC Chair Aunty Muriel Bamblett AO said:
“We don’t want lower standards for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.”
Aunty Muriel said:
“We want higher standards. And those standards do need to include Aboriginal culture and we need to make our culture visible and our kids need to be strong to be able to deal with schools, to be able to learn better.”
The Sector covered SNAICC’s statement on Four Corners. The coverage highlighted SNAICC’s message that trust and safety are built through relationships, by a workforce families recognise as their own, which is why culture belongs in national standards. The Sector quoted SNAICC:
“We have long advocated for nationally consistent standards of care that reflect the importance of culture.”
Molly Frew also covered the calls for reform in News Corp coverage syndicated across The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail, Cairns Post, NT News and other mastheads, quoting SNAICC’s call for funding reform:
“A model built for a different context can’t be expected to hold the cultural and relational safety that community-controlled, holistic care provides.”
Reliability of funding is reliability of safety. SNAICC has argued for many years that subsidy-based funding models can affect children’s safety and continuity of care.
SNAICC sees a national Early Education and Care Commission as the opportunity to deliver that funding reform. As calls for a commission grew, The Sector reported SNAICC’s position alongside other sector leaders and drew on it in an opinion piece.
SNAICC has joined The Parenthood, The Front Project and Minderoo Foundation in calling for a strong, independent National Early Education and Care Commission, informed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander expertise:
SNAICC’s proposed funding model, built on nationwide consultation and Deloitte Access Economics modelling, recommends dedicated, needs-based funding for ACCO early years services. In July 2024, the Joint Council on Closing the Gap agreed that governments would develop advice on implementing it. More than two years on, SNAICC is still negotiating with governments for the model.
SNAICC is calling on all governments to put the model in place, so services have the resources, workforce and sustainable funding to provide safe, quality care.
Read the Funding Model Options for ACCO Integrated Early Years Services report.
Read our statement hereNT Child Protection Review Fails to Hear Aboriginal Families
A recent independent review into the Northern Territory’s child protection system found extensive failings in the Department of Children and Families’ handling of Kumanjayi Little Baby’s case. SBS NITV and ABC News covered the findings and SNAICC’s response that the review falls short of what is needed to drive systemic change.
The review made 45 recommendations, but SNAICC has repeatedly raised concerns that Aboriginal communities and families have been ignored.
SNAICC Chair Aunty Muriel Bamblett AO was part of an inquiry into the NT child protection system in 2009 and 2010, which found a system that was broken. Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, she said little has changed since:
“We talked at the time about a tsunami of needs in the Northern Territory [and] the situation hasn’t got better because, in my point of view, we try to put a western construct of child protection into the Northern Territory, where culture and protective factors are there and communities know what they need to do.”
“But governments keep failing to listen to the Aboriginal community.”
Child safety also depends on protective factors such as housing, health services and family supports, all areas the NT Government has the power to address. Aunty Muriel said:
“Neglect and poverty put our children at greatest risk, until all governments seriously address these issues, our children will remain vulnerable.”
Aunty Muriel also spoke on ABC RN Breakfast, AM and Australia Wide. An ABC News analysis by Miriam Corowa drew on her experience to ask why successive NT inquiries have not delivered lasting change.
SNAICC has called for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle to be properly applied. The Care and Protection of Children Legislation Amendment (Every Child Matters) Act 2026 weakened it in July. Aunty Muriel told SBS NITV:
“Properly applying the Child Placement Principle, committing to solutions put forward by Aboriginal Territorians and acting on the wider issues impacting children and families will see our children able to grow up strong, safe and protected.”
SNAICC reiterates its calls on the Territory Government to listen to Aboriginal communities and work with them on reform. It made the same call when it warned the Every Child Matters Bill would make children less safe.
Read the media releaseAboriginal-Led Preschools Keeping Language Strong
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the ABC article contains the name and image of an Aboriginal person who has died, shared with permission from Kulai Preschool.
ABC News highlighted the work of Kulai Preschool Aboriginal Corporation in Coffs Harbour and Dalaigur Pre-School and Children’s Services Aboriginal Corporation in Kempsey, two Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) preschools on the NSW Mid North Coast successfully bringing language and culture to children and families.
The story followed Aunty Julie Craig, who grew up without her Gumbaynggirr language, banned in schools until 1972, and is now learning it for the first time at Kulai, where her granddaughter sings Gumbaynggirr songs. Kulai director Aunty Julie Carey spoke about culture as the foundation of identity, belonging and family wellbeing.
Kulai is rated Exceeding the National Quality Standard, and Aunty Julie Carey was recognised with a Nanga Mai Award in 2025.
Further south in Kempsey, Dalaigur shows the same strength. Director Debbie Swanson told the ABC that families trust ACCO services because they know their children will be culturally safe, cared for by their own community.
The research backs this up. An independent Deloitte evaluation found that supporting ACCO early learning services improves quality and builds culturally safe relationships, a strong foundation for children’s learning and wellbeing.
Many Kindergarten students at the nearby Gumbaynggirr Giingana Freedom School, NSW’s first bilingual Aboriginal school, come straight from Kulai. Speaking to ABC News, SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle said children who start their education at Kulai:
“…often arrived at the school as competent speakers with a strong sense of cultural identity and confidence.”
She said:
“Educators consistently observed that children from Kulai engaged enthusiastically and demonstrated a deeper understanding of Gumbaynggirr language and culture, while peers from mainstream settings often need extra support to re-establish their cultural connection.”
SNAICC continues to call on all governments to sustainably resource ACCOs so more work like this can be done.
Read the Family Matters Report 2025.
Listen to Catherine at Kulai Preschool on Kids, Culture, Community: SNAICC Yarns.
Read the media releaseStolen Generations Reparations Must Be Matched by Action Today
The National Indigenous Times reported that time is running out for survivors to apply for Victoria’s Stolen Generations Reparations Package. The coverage, also carried in The West Australian, included SNAICC’s support for the package.
Stolen Generations survivors were taken from their families as children. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are still removed from their families at far higher rates than other children today.
That is why SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle said recognition of past harm must be matched by action to prevent future harm.
She said the Victorian Government must listen to Aboriginal people, who have long been clear about the reforms needed to keep children safe and connected to family and culture:
“That means investing in Aboriginal community-led solutions, strengthening family supports, and expanding early intervention to support families before they reach crisis point.”
Learn more about Victoria’s Stolen Generations Reparations Package.
Read the Family Matters 2025 reportSNAICC Board Member Rob McPhee a Finalist for Territory Leader of the Year
SNAICC board member Rob McPhee has been named a finalist for the NT News Territory Leader of the Year 2026.
Rob is CEO of Danila Dilba Health Service. Over the past five years he has expanded its services and strengthened its workforce, established aged care services for Elders and secured funding for a new Palmerston clinic and training hub. He also chairs the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory and sits on the boards of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and SNAICC.
SNAICC congratulates Rob on this recognition of his leadership in community-controlled services across the Territory.
A Say for Communities in a National Early Education Commission
The Sector reported on the September meeting of the Early Childhood Care and Development Policy Partnership, where SNAICC backed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance and shared decision-making in a potential national Early Education and Care Commission.
The Policy Partnership is a Closing the Gap shared decision-making body that SNAICC co-chairs. A commission with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance would give communities a real say in how early learning works for their children.
SNAICC and the First Nations Caucus also welcomed the inclusion of early learning in the national First Nations Education Policy, while calling for it to be recognised as a distinct education system.