Inquest to examine infant Baby G’s death in Territory Families’ care

A Coroner will probe the circumstances of the death of the boy, who has been given the preliminary pseudonym of Baby G, after he passed away in March aged less than six months.

A generic photo of a baby being treated at a hospital. Picture: istockphoto

An inquest into the death of a baby boy earlier this year will examine how he came to be in the care of Territory Families before he died aged less than six months.

Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage will probe the circumstances of the death of the boy, who has been given the preliminary pseudonym of Baby G, after he passed away in March.

Deputy Coroner Chrissy McConnel told a directions hearing this week the inquest would focus on his family’s interactions with child protection workers, rather than his medical care.

“Sadly, Baby G had significant health issues from the time that he was born,” she said.

“He’d been receiving constant medical care since his birth, including transfers to Royal Adelaide Hospital.

“His prognosis had always been quite poor and despite some planning for him to be discharged from hospital … he ultimately was never well enough to leave.”

Ms McConnel said at this stage, “the level of healthcare is not something I have identified any particular concerns about”.

“It’s more about the fact that he ultimately became a child in care and why that was the case and what supports were offered to the family in order to assist them to maintain the family unit and for it not to be necessary for this little baby to go into care,” she said.

Ms McConnel said Territory Families had written to the boy’s local health clinic as early as two days after his birth expressing concerns about his mother’s alcohol use.

“There are some indications on the file that there were concerns by hospital staff that parents were coming to hospital regularly highly intoxicated and there was one particular incident in November, 2022 which was reported to Territory Families which triggered an investigation,” she said.

“But other than that, your honour, it’s just not clear what evidence there is of those incidences and what it was that ultimately led Territory Families to take such a determined approach, perhaps, to take this baby into care.”

Ms McConnel requested the department provide a review of Baby G’s case ahead of the substantive hearing.

“What supports were offered, what processes were followed, is something that really needs to be clarified and explored further,” she said.

“How they handled the matter, what policies and processes are in place to support families in this situation, were they applied — an intensive review into those issues is, in my submission, warranted before we can ultimately determine the appropriate scope for this inquest.”

A solicitor representing Territory Families told the court a practice review would be completed along with the department’s institutional response.