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First Nations children’s advocates and legal services have called on the Northern Territory government to widen the scope of a planned review into the child protection system, announced in the wake of the tragic death of a 5-year-old in Alice Springs.

The NT minister for child protection, Robyn Cahill, announced on Friday that the Territory’s CLP government would launch an extensive review into the child protection system after the alleged killing of Kumanjayi Little Baby. A 47-year-old man who is not related to the child or connected to her care has been charged with murder and two other offences, but is yet to face court in person or enter a plea.

Cahill told the ABC that her government “was not prepared to accept the status quo and will announce the scope of an independent review” early next week.

“Every Territory child deserves to be safe,” she said. “That is not negotiable.

“We need to get to the bottom of what’s broken and what needs to change. This review is about the whole system – the culture, the resources, the practices, the laws.

“Protecting children is central to our plan for a safer, stronger Territory, and there is more work to do.”

The NT children’s commissioner, Larrakia woman Shahleena Musk, said she was not contacted by anyone from the NT government before the review was announced on Friday, and has also not been contacted by the government in relation to Kumanjayi Little Baby’s death.

“Despite recent narrative from the minister for child protection, neither the minister nor any members of cabinet have contacted or sought to engage with the Children’s Commissioner on this matter or the need for an investigation into or review of the broader child protection system,” Musk said.

“Nor has the Commissioner been approached on the possibility of an independent inquiry or to direct they undertake an inquiry in accordance with section 30 of the Children’s Commissioner Act 2013 (the act).”

Musk said her office has tried to obtain information related to the case from the department of children and families “through formal legal notices to inform decision making in accordance with legislative functions”.

“As of this date, the Commissioner is still awaiting fulsome information,” she said.

Musk said she was “deeply concerned with the politicisation and nature of public commentary” around the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby, but that she had been “focused on respecting sorry business” in accordance with the family’s wishes.

Cahill announced on Wednesday that three child protection workers had been stood down pending an investigation into “actions taken, or not taken” in relation to the case.

The NT parliament is next week set to debate child protection reforms which will reportedly include overturning the Aboriginal child placement principle, a national measure introduced in response to the Stolen Generation to ensure children removed by the government retain connection to their family and culture.

In a joint statement, a coalition of eight public legal services in the NT, including Legal Aid NT, the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, and five services specialising in family violence, called on the government to focus on supporting children and families “rather than kneejerk legislative changes which risk creating another Stolen Generation and further harming a new generation of Aboriginal children”.

They also raised concerns about the “publication and circulation” of allegations involving children and families, saying it is a criminal offence to disclose or publish identifying or confidential information connected to child protection matters.

Catherine Liddle, an Arrernte and Luritja woman and CEO of SNAICC, the peak body advocating for Indigenous children, told Guardian Australia that conducting a review of just one department would fail Aboriginal children.

“If the minister only looks at child protection and the child placement principle, then she has completely conflated what has happened and used political opportunism to get something across the line,” Liddle said. “What we’re looking at were multiple system failures.”

NT opposition spokesperson on child protection, Chansey Paech, said the scope of any inquiry “cannot be limited to just a child protection lens”.

“We absolutely need to examine those issues, but this requires a genuine whole of government approach that looks across the justice system, [at] corrections, health, housing and community safety as well as rehabilitation,” he said.

“Territory deserve an inquiry that is informed, credible and capable of delivering real solutions not just headlines.”

Meanwhile, the national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, Sue-Anne Hunter, has called for urgent action from federal, state and territory governments to deliver both immediate and long-term funding for Aboriginal community-controlled housing, in the wake of the deaths of two Aboriginal children in the space of seven days: Kumanjayi Little Baby, and an infant born at a homeless camp at Wagga Wagga in New South Wales.

Hunter acknowledged the NT child protection review but said that alone would not create the necessary structural change.

•Indigenous Australians can call 13YARN on 13 92 76 for information and crisis support; or call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Mensline on 1300 789 978