Alice Springs baby dies after mother forced to live with DV perpetrators
A six-week-old Aboriginal baby died after her mother was evicted and forced to sleep on the floor of an overcrowded house with people who had previously assaulted her, a coroner has found.
A newborn Aboriginal baby in Alice Springs passed away due to an unsafe sleeping environment, according to a coroner's report. The six-week-old infant died from SUDI, a condition distinct from SIDS, in September 2024. The mother, a 21-year-old Aboriginal woman, was evicted from crisis accommodation two days before the baby's death, leaving her effectively homeless.
She was forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor of a house with eight others, including three who had previously assaulted her. The coroner, Elisabeth Armitage, found that the woman, who was attentive to her infant's needs, was evicted from crisis accommodation and provided with no safe sleep space, leading to the tragic incident.
The NT government has been recommended to identify and quantify the level of homelessness experienced by expectant and new mothers in the territory.
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