<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An Indigenous leader's frank admission has laid bare the history between authorities and the community members of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/alice-springs" rel="" target="_blank" title="Alice Springs"><span>Alice Springs</span></a><span>. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Australian Human Rights Commission's Indigenous Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss commended police for their "urgency and determination" in finding missing five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She said she "cannot recall a time when the disappearance of an Aboriginal child has received this level of urgent attention from law enforcement".</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/body-found-in-search-for-missing-northern-territory-girl/d2aa7d07-20a3-4e85-965b-dcae5f71dd4d" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'We need to let the family mourn': Traditional owners speak after Alice Springs riot</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Tragically, there are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people currently missing who have not been met with the same response," she said in a statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"My greatest hope is that Kumanjayi Little Baby's short life becomes a turning point - that in this country, the life of an Indigenous child is valued, protected and pursued with the same urgency as any other child."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Alice Springs is home to cases of Indigenous deaths in custody and a long history of alcohol bans and curfews. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/kumanjayi-little-baby-alice-springs-indigenous-social-justice-commissioner-katie-kiss-frank-admission/ae0670cf-2699-4864-a959-540104e793a5" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span></span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/alice-springs-death-in-custody-call-for-answers/d6f80543-0afc-4caa-b996-85cec831ebf7" rel="" target="_blank" title="Kumanjayi White, a 24-year-old with a disability, was killed"><span>Kumanjayi White, a 24-year-old with a disability, was killed</span></a><span> after he was restrained by plainclothes officers for shoplifting at Coles in May 2025. The investigation remains ongoing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In November 2019, 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker was shot three times inside his home by police officer Zachary Rolfe.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rolfe was acquitted of murder charges and denied findings from a coroner in July last year that </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/kumanjayi-walker--zachary-rolfe-family-of-nt-teen-shot-and-killed-by-cop-hopes-for-change/e9d65d41-e8f2-44d2-9402-f55d09d6f77f" rel="" target="_blank" title="he was racist and his attitudes played a role in the teenager's death"><span>he was racist and his attitudes played a role in the teenager's death</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The coroner also found "all forms of racism" were present within the NT Police and made 18 recommendations for the force. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the time, NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole said the findings were confronting and committed to "stamping out racism in all its forms".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The force introduced its Anti-Racism Strategy late last year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/kumanjayi-little-baby-death-alice-springs-jacinta-price-reacts-to-death/1ab90812-0c2e-4279-b23a-d9a6c7bced28" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'National disgrace': Jacinta Price reacts to death of five-year-old niece</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Indigenous deaths in custody reached a record figure in the 2024-25 financial year, the highest since records began in 1979-80, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There were 113 deaths in custody, with 33 of those Indigenous deaths. Two of those were in the Northern Territory.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Indigenous Australians make up just 3.8 per cent of the population but account for more than 33.3 per cent of the prison population. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The federal government has also been criticised by some Indigenous organisations like the Aboriginal Medical Alliance Northern Territory for interventionist alcohol bans in Alice Springs being a band-aid solution.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Alcohol bans were introduced in 2007 and lasted 15 years until they lapsed in 2022 and were </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/alice-springs-update-alcohol-restrictions-extended-northern-territory/8fb2bc40-bf47-47f7-b1f2-5770ac77d580" rel="" target="_blank" title="reintroduced the following year due to high crime rates"><span>reintroduced the following year due to high crime rates</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Territory government reintroduced a ban on takeaway alcohol today following community unrest outside the Alice Springs Hospital, where the man accused of the murder of Kumanjayi Little Baby was taken after being arrested by police last night.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe today said there were broader issues in the Northern Territory that cannot be ignored, like extreme poverty and a lack of basic services and support.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She urged the government to support and empower communities to create solutions, rather than engage in "interventionist approaches of the past".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called for calm within the community while Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/kumanjayi-little-baby-death-alice-springs-jacinta-price-reacts-to-death/1ab90812-0c2e-4279-b23a-d9a6c7bced28" rel="" target="_blank" title="Liberal Senator Jacinta Price call for an independent inquiry into town camps"><span>Liberal Senator Jacinta Price call for an independent inquiry into town camps</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span></span><strong><span>For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Support is available from the</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>at</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au/" title="https://www.1800respect.org.au/"><strong><span>1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)</span></strong></a></div></div>