A five-year-old girl was let down by the child protection system which failed to identify and assess multiple and escalating indicators of domestic and family violence before her death, an interim report has found.

The five-year-old, known for cultural reasons as Kumanjayi Little Baby, was abducted from the Old Timers camp at Alice Springs on April 2025.

Her body was found five days later.

Jefferson Lewis, a man unknown to Kumanjayi Little Baby, was charged with her murder and is awaiting trial.

The case sparked a review of the Northern Territory’s child protection system, led by former NSW police commissioner Karen Webb and public servant Greg Shanahan.

In an interim report published on Tuesday, they identified “systemic issues which have broader implications for the Department of Children and Family’s operations”.

They said a domestic and family violence risk assessment was not undertaken, despite documents identifying the presence of domestic and family violence across each referral received by the department.

“This limited DCF’s ability to identify and assess the cumulative impact of multiple reports, including the frequency, severity and escalation of DFV incidents over time,” the interim report said.

As a result, it said, an ongoing pattern of violence on the children and family environment was not fully recognised, with Kumanjayi Little Baby’s mother left to protect her children while experiencing violence herself.

The department had not adequately identified the risks posed by the perpetrator’s behaviour and the impact of the violence on the children, or responded to the threats with appropriate urgency, it said.

Operational delays had been caused by a combination of high workloads and capacity issues, partly caused by retention and recruitment challenges in remote areas.

Delays were also a function of the department’s allocation processes, competing priorities and decision-making.

The review comes as Indigenous bodies and human rights organisations express concerns about the territory’s controversial child protection law, Every Child Matters.

Catherine Liddle, the CEO of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care, said the territory was becoming a pariah state when it comes to the care and safety of Aboriginal children.

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–AAP