Mum exposed to lead as a child now fighting same battle with own children

At the age of 29, Baylee Stokes is still suffering the health fallout from being exposed to lead as a child.

The Indigenous woman struggles with learning difficulties and other developmental delays, which are typical of exposure to lead.

Now a mother herself, with her own children fighting the same battle, she is trying to move them away from the only place she has ever known.

The mining city they have always called home is also home to the Line of Lode, one of the world's largest bodies of lead, silver and zinc.

It has been mined continuously for almost 140 years, resulting in the widespread distribution of lead in soil and dust throughout Broken Hill and surrounding areas.

According to the latest Annual Lead Program Report, 35 per cent of children aged one to five, and 56 per cent of Aboriginal children, have blood lead levels above the national health investigative guideline of 5 micrograms per decilitre (5 µg/dL).

Among that number is Ms Stokes' six children.

Her youngest, two-year-old I'vayah, was six months old when she recorded a blood lead level of 26 micrograms per decilitre, which is 5.2 times the level that triggers investigation and support.

"It's horrible. I had it through childhood. I know the things that [lead] does to you. I have learning difficulties," Ms Stokes said.

I'm worried about my kids now. I know the long-term [impacts]."

"I still find it hard. I don't want that for any of my children."

Tackling lead pollution

The data for 2025 shows the overall number of children with blood lead levels (BLLs) over the 5 µg/dL guideline has decreased for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children under five.

However, it also showed that Indigenous children in Broken Hill were twice as likely to have high BLLs compared to non-Indigenous.

Between 2016 and 2025 the number of Aboriginal children aged one to five with high lead levels was found to have increased compared to non-Indigenous children.

In response to the report, the NSW government has announced a record $37 million over four years to deal with lead exposure.

The funding will double the number of homes remediated each year, a process of making it lead-free by removing lead-based paint, laying grass to trap dirt, and enhancing monitoring of emissions from existing mines and other local dust sources.

It will also support ongoing BLL testing for children, as well as education and awareness campaigns including the LeadSmart program.

State environment minister Penny Sharpe said the funding showed the government was taking the issue seriously.

"We want kids in Broken Hill to have the same opportunities as everyone else," she said.

"That means we need to tackle the challenges of lead pollution in their environment."

Safe housing key to protecting children

Richard Weston, CEO of the local Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation Maari Ma, said the funding did not address the inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous BLLs.

"Whilst it's a big investment we think it's being targeted at the wrong areas, particularly for Aboriginal children," he said.

"There's an ongoing investment in lead remediation of homes from lead, but the situation of Aboriginal people in housing is precarious, substandard housing, overcrowded, unstable tenancies."

Mr Weston said spending money on remediating a home was not a good use of money because Aboriginal people could often not retain tenancy once the remediation was done, particularly when the house was substandard.

"There's a potential for landlords to increase the rent or sell the house, or for Aboriginal people to be moved into other unstable housing,"

he said.

This was the case with Ms Stokes, who says her previous home was remediated but she was then forced out when the landlord decided to sell the property "because he got the yard done and it looked a lot better".

Mr Weston has called for more social housing for Aboriginal people, and said unless Indigenous children had secure housing they would continue to have high BLLs and the gap between Aboriginal children and non-Aboriginal children would widen.

The environment minister emphasised the remediation of homes would take a "zonal approach" to remove lead from homes which had the highest levels.

Ms Sharpe added that the government will continue to look at what needs to be done to protect children from lead and it was already investing in social housing in Broken Hill.

Mayor Tom Kennedy welcomed the announcement, saying it was a "good start" to tackling the issue.

He said the lowering of lead levels in children had become "stagnant" with a significant percentage of local children still well above safe BLLs guidelines.

But he disagreed with Mr Weston's view that housing was the answer and was sceptical of where such social housing could be built.

"Increased housing is not going to eradicate the lead issue in Broken Hill,"

he said.

Cr Kennedy instead believes measures like an additional street sweeper, increased planting of grass and vegetation to trap lead dust, and increased education was the way forward.

Education not enough to protect children from lead

Ms Stokes believes education did not protected her and is not confident it will protect her children from the life-long impacts of lead.

"I have knowledge of lead. It didn't stop any of my kids getting high lead"

she said.

"I wash their hands, they eat fruit and vegetables, they eat meat, it didn't stop it."

Mr Weston agreed and said that while other measures were useful, housing was key.

"[Education] makes a difference when you're living in a safe house," he said.

"If you're telling an Aboriginal family to wash their hands and they'll be safe, that doesn't make sense. That's nuts, and it's a lie.

"There's land available in Broken Hill [to build social housing], but it takes political will.

"[It] takes a health department that actually cares about Aboriginal people, and actually cares about closing the gap.

"We're not seeing that at the moment."

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