System ‘failed’ little girl in Tennant Creek, Office of NT Children’s Commissioner report finds

THE parents of a two-year-old girl, allegedly raped in her Tennant Creek home, had extraordinarily long rap sheets with police dating back 16 years, a shocking new report shows

A report, tabled in Parliament on Wednesday night, found systems that were meant to protect a two-year-old Tennant Creek girl – and her siblings – “failed”

THE parents of a two-year-old girl, allegedly raped in her Tennant Creek home, had extraordinarily long rap sheets with police dating back 16 years, a shocking new report shows.

The Office of the NT Children’s Commissioner report shows the two-year-old, her four siblings and parents were “well known” to Territory Families, NT Police, Department of Education, and the Department of Correctional Services, and other service providers in Tennant Creek.

There were more than 150 recorded interactions between the girl’s family and NT Police dating back to 2002.

At the time the girl was allegedly raped in February, her father was behind bars for assaulting her mother and both parents had multiple convictions against them, including eight charges of aggravated assault against her father; and six for driving under the influence against her mother.

The report, tabled in Parliament at 7pm Wednesday night, found systems meant to protect the girl – and her siblings – “failed”, and it was “foreseeable” the girl “was at risk of harm and that risk could have been managed or mitigated”.

It found the girl tested positive to a sexually transmitted disease after the rape.

In total, 52 child protection notifications were received for the children from 2002 to 2018 – relating to domestic violence and parental substance abuse; lack of education (attendance); neglect; emotional harm; physical harm and sexual abuse of the children.

The report states: “... Prior to the most recent alleged sexual assault ... police had also conducted investigations in relation to sexual and physical abuse upon her siblings, some of these investigations resulted in prosecutions, with the perpetrator incarcerated. Police records also detail 35 domestic violence incidents recorded between the mother and father.”

It also says: “The examination of this particular child’s life highlights critical intervention points where the system has failed her and her siblings.”

“This appears to be a result of inadequate and ad hoc provision of services and support, the failure to appropriately assess cumulative harm, a culture of reporting and referrals with no or limited evidence of meaningful actions or outcomes,” it said.

The report also found Territory Families did not comply with its own child protection policies and procedures and lacked comprehensive risk and safety assessments. The OCC was advised on April 5 that the girl and her younger brother have since been removed from their mother’s care by the Department of Child Protection in South Australia.