South Hedland child protection fails to improve four years after three deaths
Dorothy Papertalk says the child protection system is still broken despite her grandchildren's murder in 2022.
Dorothy Papertalk buried her three grandchildren, Jamelia (10), Arnda (7), and Kelvin (4 months), after their mother murdered them and set fire to their South Hedland home in July 2022. The mother was sentenced to life in jail.
This week, reports revealed more than a dozen children were left unsupervised in a home on Papertalk's street. The West Australian government sent Child Protection Minister Jessica Stojkovski to Port Hedland.
She visited for less than 24 hours. Papertalk says the department failed to help despite repeated warnings before the deaths.
A request for a new coroner's inquest was denied. She says officials were too afraid to even explain why they could not help her family.
- Jamelia (10), Arnda (7), Kelvin (4 months)
- Three victims
- July 2022
- Murder date
- More than a dozen unsupervised children
- Recent cases
Why it mattersChildren in South Hedland are at immediate risk if the same protection gaps that caused the 2022 tragedy stay unfixed.
AustraliaWestern Australia's child protection system faces ongoing criticism for failing vulnerable children in the Pilbara despite high-profile deaths.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 7 d ago
