Limbo: Aboriginal kids trapped in UK with nowhere to go, says Kerrynne Liddle

Two Aboriginal children without visas or passports are trapped in UK’s child protection system while Australian authorities work out how to get them home.

Two Indigenous children taken to the UK by their foster parents are trapped in England's child protection system.

Two Aboriginal children without visas or passports are trapped in the child protection system in ­England while Australian authorities try to work out how to get them home.

Delays in the highly unusual case have been labelled a disgrace by federal opposition child protection spokeswoman Kerrynne Liddle, who called for the siblings, a boy and a girl aged 14 and 15, to be returned to Australia immediately.

“The two children are now ‘aliens’ without legal status in the United Kingdom. These are Australian citizens we are talking about,’’ she said.

The siblings were taken to the UK by their foster parents, both British citizens, in July 2020 with the consent of the NSW Department of Communities and Justice on the basis that they would return by that October, giving the carers time to renew their expired Australian visas.

But Covid travel restrictions delayed the return and the children were not brought back. In June 2022 the NSW Children’s Court granted parental responsibility to the foster carers living in England but ordered the departmental minister to ensure the children’s ongoing contact with family and connection with culture.

It is unclear how children living on the other side of the world were expected to maintain such contact and their mother, a Wiradjuri woman, successfully challenged the case in the NSW Court of ­Appeal late last year.

The court ruled that the NSW Children’s Court had no power to allocate parental responsibility for children living in the UK to the carers.

It is understood one of the siblings has been living in the child protection system in northern ­England for some time. It appears that the foster carers have not ­applied for further orders to keep the children or accompany them back to Australia, and the second child will be relinquished to the UK system. The court heard that the children “identify as persons of Aboriginal (Wiradjuri) descent”.

The case flies in the face of the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, a legislated requirement for Indigenous children to be placed, where possible, with family or the wider Aboriginal community. When this is not possible foster carers are required to sign up to cultural-care plans to help the child maintain their Indigenous identity and sense of belonging to family, community and country.

Since the court judgment on December 19 the case has dragged, clouded with uncertainty about when the children would be ­returned to Australia, where they would live, the capacity of their birth mother to care for them or the availability of other family members to step in. It is believed the children were not informed of the court decision or their imminent return until at least three weeks after the judgment and it is unclear what their wishes are.

Senator Liddle said she had alerted the federal government late last year about the case ­because of the requirements for passports and was surprised it had not been resolved.

“For the Albanese government to be made aware of this issue and to not act with urgency is deplorable – especially given its rhetoric since its election,’’ she said. “Passports have failed to be organised despite a month passing and both parents signing the relevant documentation.”

Careful planning was needed around the children’s reunification with family they had not seen for some time.

“Their return to Australia should be expedited, followed by the appropriate fail-safe support system to initiate a reunification process with their mother,” Senator Liddle said.

“It is evident the children need health assistance as much as emotional support.”

Kerrynne Liddle. Picture: Matt Turner.

It is understood the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is helping NSW authorities and the Attorney-General’s department.

The court heard that the children first came to the notice of welfare officers in October 2009 when the youngest was three months old. They were removed from their parents and the following year the state was given sole parenting responsibility until they reached 18.

“They were originally placed in the care of a maternal aunt, but the arrangement was not long-lasting. Placements with Indigenous families became difficult to maintain and it became likely that the children would be separated,’’ the judgment said.

In late 2017 the foster mother, known as Ms M, became aware of the children through her work with an Aboriginal agency and she and her husband Mr L were authorised as the children’s carers.

By 2019 the foster father’s work visa expired, requiring him to return to England. His wife visited him with the children and in July 2020, when her visa expired, she went back with the children with the minister’s consent, subject to her returning that October.

The return flight was cancelled due to Covid restrictions and the children have not been back to Australia since. It is not believed they have had contact with their birth parents in that time.

A spokesperson from the ­Department of Communities and Justice dodged answering any questions about the case, stating: “ (DCJ) is committed to ensuring Aboriginal children and young people are placed safely within their biological family, extended family, local Aboriginal community or wider Aboriginal community and culture wherever possible.

“DCJ recognises the importance and value of family, ­extended family, kinship networks, culture, and community, in raising Aboriginal children.”

Authorities in Britain charged with caring for the children ­declined to comment due to “legal reasons”.