Sue-Anne Hunter: Fighting for First Nations Kids

0:00It's March 29th. This is Melbourne News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Sue Ann Hunter just stepped up as Australia's first First Nations Children's Commissioner back in August, and she's on a mission fueled by one, heartbreaking story. She worked as a case worker for an Aboriginal boy pulled from his family, only to watch his path lead through youth detention, adult prison, and finally death in custody. One of over 600 indigenous lives lost since the Royal Commission in the 1980s. Now she's pushing government's heart for real change in how First Nations kids are treated. Her office just got independent status through new legislation, and she's diving straight into the crisis. Indigenous children end up in out of home care up to 12 times more often than non-Indigenous kids, and over 60% of youth in detention. Our First Nations detained at 20 times the rate. Hunter meets these vulnerable young people everywhere, from removal scenes to jail visits and hospital beds, letting their voices drive her fight for.

1:02Better laws. Growing up in Melbourne's broad meadows as one of six kids, Hunter beat dyslexia to drop out of high school, then earned degrees from the trobe, university, and a master's at Harvard. She's Urundjeri and Nurei, Ilum Urund, descending from just 13 survivors after colonization, including her grandmother, Borneck Koronderk. In addition, mentored by trauma expert Bruce Perry and aboriginal child care leader anti-murial Bamblid, she calls herself a reluctant leader carrying that, resilience everywhere. She's building trust with communities, organizations, and politicians, warning those in power that every decision hits kids hard, you never know where. They'll end up, racism and injustice in the system fire her up. Once you see it, you can't walk away. She brings children's stories right into meetings with ministers, demanding an end to removals, lockups, and preventable deaths. Ultimately, Hunter wants her commission to work itself out of a job, making sure every

2:03first nation's child is safe, supported, and thriving. That's the, when she's chasing in honor of that boy and thousands more.