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Coalition senator Jacinta Price Nampijinpa has demanded answers from officials over child safety “failings” in indigenous town camps after the alleged murder of her niece, Kumanjayi Little Baby.
The body of the five-year-old was found five days after she went missing from her home in the Old Man Town Camp at Alice Springs on April 25 this year. Jefferson Lewis, 47, has been charged with her murder.
The tragedy – which attracted nationwide attention – led to a renewed focus on the conditions of the town camps and child safety in the Northern Territory.
“What warning signs existed in relation to her death, prior to (her alleged murder) and were they being tracked at all at a Commonwealth level? Was there any understanding at all?,” the senator asked officials of the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) official on Tuesday.
NIAA group manager Bridgette Bellenger told the budget estimates hearing she visited town camps regularly.
She said while “some isolated housing” needed further support there were many town camp residents who lived in good housing conditions.
Senator Price called out the conditions the children at town camps were living in.
“The photos that we’ve seen of a five-year-old being put to bed on a mattress in a living room surrounded by Jim Beam bottles in a house where the doors don’t lock are acceptable for any child?” Senator Price asked the officials.
Ms Bellenger said the responsibility was largely with the NT government while organisations such as NIAA helped support the communities through child and family programs.
“Child protection is a critical issue, not only in town camps, but across the Northern Territory and more broadly, Australia,” she said.
NIAA chief executive Julie-Ann Guivarra said a new $4bn Northern Territory Housing Agreement was part of the ongoing effort to build new homes that went beyond cyclical repairs and maintenance.
“There has been a series of homes that have been built under the most recent agreement, as well as the two prior agreements to that, so there is an ongoing effort,” she said.
‘People are dying’: Thorpe furious over stalled funding
Later, independent senator Lidia Thorpe said the NT Remote Aboriginal Investment Agreement implementation had been stalled for more than a year.
More than $840bn in funding was announced in February 2025 to fund critical services in remote communities under a partnership between Commonwealth and the Northern Territory government.
NIAA officials said the NT government was delivering a range of services and they were paid in arrears.
“Services are continuing. There hasn’t been any cuts to the services, and the territory government has provided that assurance,” Ms Bellenger said.
Referring to NT budget papers, Senator Thorpe said the delays had meant millions of dollars were stalled which the committee denied, saying the services were in place.
“Delays meant that millions of dollars intended for interpreter and translator services and family support for children at risk of removal were not, I repeat, not delivered,” Senator Thorpe said.
“Are families missing out on support right now because of your failure?”
The officials told Senator Thorpe the parliament was briefed regularly and they were open to provide more details.
Senator Thorpe called NIAA’s funding provided to major sporting bodies, the AFL and NRL, a black comedy episode.
She said an organisation like the NRL – with annual revenue of more than $800m – received $8m in 2025-2026 for First Nations youth mentoring and leadership programs while NAJJA ”begged” for money to service people knocking on their doors.
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