SNAICC in the News
30 May – 5 June 2026
This week, SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle warned proposed NT child protection laws would make children less safe, after the NT Children’s Commissioner’s report confirmed nearly one in three children in out-of-home care experienced at least one harm notification in 2024–25.
SNAICC also announced proud Gamilaroi and Dunghutti woman Marlee Silva as the 2026 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day Ambassador, with the theme Living Our Truth.
Here is a look at where the conversation has been, 30 May – 5 June 2026.
SNAICC Warns NT Child Protection Bill Will Make Children Less Safe as Commissioner Confirms Harm in Care
SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle has warned that the Northern Territory’s Care and Protection of Children Legislation Amendment (Every Child Matters) Bill 2026 will make children less safe, as ABC News reported on Tuesday on the NT Children’s Commissioner’s finding that nearly one in three children in out-of-home care in the Territory experienced at least one harm notification in 2024–25, more than double the previous year. The overwhelming majority of those children were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
Only one of 75 substantiated harm investigations was completed within the required 42-day timeframe.
In more than a quarter of cases, the person responsible for the harm was the child’s own carer.
Nationally, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that almost half of children who experienced harm while in out-of-home care in 2023 to 2024 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
The NT Government’s response has been to introduce legislation that would weaken the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, the framework designed to keep children connected to family, kin and community.
In the Northern Territory, almost 17 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care are placed with family or kin, the lowest rate in the country, according to the Family Matters Report 2025.
Speaking on Breakfast with Stewart Brash on ABC Alice Springs on 3 June, Catherine Liddle was direct about attempts to dismiss the Commissioner’s findings:
“Anyone who works in child protection will actually tell you there’s no surprises in the figures used. Absolutely no surprises in them. What we’re looking at is two options. One is if you’re refuting the data, come clean, release the data that Aboriginal organisations and child protection experts have been asking you to release for a very long time, or listen to the alarm bell, because this is an alarm bell.”
“1 in 3 children who are the direct responsibility of the government, and that means the government is the carer, is harmed in care. This is really serious. This isn’t a practice run. This is a fire.”
In the same interview, Catherine Liddle described what South Australia’s experience shows:
“What they found in South Australia, and they are now in the position where they’re having to roll back the legislation, is that people became too reactive and actually caused harm. What they saw was a horrific increase in the number of children being removed from care, and the harm that comes as a result of that.”
On Thursday, SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle’s submission to the public hearing on the Bill was covered by ABC News Darwin. She said:
“What the principle categorically doesn’t do is prioritise culture over safety. To suggest that it does is ridiculous, misguided and misinformed.”
“Numbers of children in out-of-home care will explode. There’s significant evidence to demonstrate that this is what will happen.”
Read the media release
Living Our Truth: Marlee Silva Named 2026 Children’s Day Ambassador
SNAICC has announced proud Gamilaroi and Dunghutti woman Marlee Silva as the 2026 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day Ambassador, bringing to the role a body of work dedicated to sharing stories of strength and resilience from our communities through documentaries, books, podcast and television.
The 2026 Children’s Day theme is Living Our Truth, honouring the power of truth-telling, the sharing of ancient knowledge, and the importance of story. It celebrates today’s children as the next generation of leaders: confident, proud, and ready to amplify the voice of their families and communities.
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SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle said:
“Marlee lives healing through truth-telling in her work sharing stories of strength and success about our communities, families and children through her documentaries, books, podcast and in the media.”
“Our truth is that our children are deeply loved. Our truth is that our children are thriving in culture. Our truth is that our children are celebrated for their cultural identity and by their communities that help to raise them. That’s what we celebrate on August 4, and we encourage the nation to do the same.”
Marlee Silva, who grew up on Dharrawal Country in NSW, wrote and directed the documentary Skin in the Game and is the author of My Tidda, My Sister and children’s book Stand Proud. She said:
“We have 60 thousand years of survival and resilience running in our veins, which means anything is possible.”
“Our children often walk in a world that sometimes doesn’t make them feel like they belong, but when you feel that sense of identity and strength in our history and our stories, that is our truth.”
Children’s Day is held on 4 August and is an opportunity for all Australians to celebrate the strength, culture and identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and the role that family and community play in every child’s life.
Read the media release
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