A class action accusing Queensland's child safety department of discriminating against First Nations families is set to be discontinued in the federal court after losing funding.
A grandmother who signed up to the class action says she has been once again let down by a failing system.
Cindy – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – said she and her family revisited a traumatic period of their history when they joined the lawsuit in late 2023.
The grandmother had hoped for accountability.
"It wasn't really about the payout. It was about how child safety treated me as a grandmother," she said.
She says Queensland's Child Safety Department discriminated against her by not only removing her grandchildren from her care after she followed protocol, but each time she was blocked from getting them back.
"They want us to fail as grandmothers, as carers. They want us to fail all the time."
In Queensland, two separate class actions had been spearheaded by Brett Harold Gunning and Madison May Burns.
The lawsuits claimed Indigenous families were stripped of their cultural identity after children were removed and placed into the system in the care of predominantly white families.
They had been seeking an apology as well as compensation.
'Draining and stressful'
Cindy is disappointed and angry at the way the case has been handled, including what she believes to have been a lack of communication.
The last update Cindy could find had been sent to her family in September last year, advising them the litigation funder, Therium Capital Management, had "decided it no longer wanted to continue" to fund the case.
Therium Capital Management was contacted for comment.
The case had initially been handled by Bottoms English Lawyers, but changed hands when the solicitor moved firms last year.
In his orders, Justice Craig Dowling noted the current firm handling the case, WGC Lawyers, had made "significant attempts" to secure alternative funding.
WGC Lawyers declined to comment when contacted, saying the matter remained before the court.
Both parties have been ordered to draft a notice addressed to the group members to explain the discontinuance has been approved by the court and the reasons for it.
"A failure to provide notice of the discontinuance of proceedings ... has the potential to give rise to further concerns of institutional neglect," Justice Dowling wrote.
Interstate, plans for similar actions being spearheaded by a different law firm, Shine Lawyers, remain afoot.
Special counsel Caitlin Wilson said claims had been filed in both Western Australia and New South Wales, while investigations in South Australia and Victoria continued.
The purpose of those actions was not only compensation, but accountability and reform.
"You can't tuck a class action away in a drawer after it's been filed," Ms Wilson said.
Ms Wilson said Shine would consider looking at Queensland again once these proceedings had completely closed.
Cindy is not sure she has the strength to go through the process again, even if an action was to be relaunched.
Ms Wilson said she understood group members may not want to be involved in any future action.
"It seems to be a series of unfortunate events that have led to this – but that doesn't mean that there's not a claim to be had," she said.
"It doesn't mean that this isn't a national issue and it doesn't mean that we won't be looking at it again."
Racism an ongoing issue in child safety
Advocates agree there continues to be a need for accountability.
According to SNAICC's most recent Family Matters report and data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are more than nine times more likely to be in out-of-home care or on permanent orders than their non-Indigenous counterparts.
Chief executive Catherine Liddle described those numbers as a "gross" over-representation.
"The fact that people are considering class actions shows how serious it is and how desperate people are to get a change in how governments are treating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children," she said.
Ms Liddle said children who were removed from the care of their parents often dealt with "serious, lifelong consequences" including difficulty accessing healthcare, education and employment.
A spokesperson for Queensland's Department of Child Safety said it was committed to improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families and reducing their over-representation in the child protection system.
They said that included having accepted recommendations to strengthen support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations that deliver targeted intervention and family support services, as well as working to deliver on Closing the Gap commitments.
