An Indigenous girl asked to reconnect with her culture. In a ‘racist’ child protection system, her pleas were ignored

Coroner Simon McGregor found that the girl’s human rights were breached while under the care of Victoria’s Department of Fairness, Families and Housing. Photograph: Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images

It was a simple letter with a basic request, handwritten by a teenage girl taken from her family and placed into a child protection system that a coroner says is struggling with systemic racism.

“I identify as a proud Wemba Wemba women [sic] and would like the accociated [sic] support that a young Aboriginal female should be provided with further care. This is a human right,” she wrote in December 2020.