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

Victorian coroner condemns systemic racism and paternalism' in child protection system after inquest into 17-year-old's death

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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.