Aboriginal deaths in custody

A protest calling for reform to prevent Aboriginal deaths in custody, c. 2015.

Aboriginal deaths in custody became an issue of community concern in Australia because of a widespread perception that a disproportionate number of Indigenous Australians had died in jail after being arrested by police or otherwise convicted of offences. This concern was particularly acute in the 1980s, when there was a perception amongst some sections of the community that these deaths were being caused, either directly or indirectly, by the police and prison authorities.

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was established in 1987 to investigate the allegations. The Royal Commission concluded that the deaths were not caused by deliberate killing by police and prison officers and that indigenous prisoners did not die at a greater rate than non-indigenous prisoners.[1]

A 2018 investigation found that over half of the Indigenous people who died in custody since 2008 had not been found guilty.[2] In Australia, all deaths in custody trigger an inquest. In general, there has been a lack of action on recommendations arising from inquests, including the recommendations made as part of the 1987 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.[3]

Notable incidents

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NATIONAL REPORT VOLUME 1 - CHAPTER 3 THE FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONERS AS TO THE DEATHS". Royal Commission on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. AUSTLII Reconciliation and Social Justice Library. 1998. Retrieved 2006-05-17. A central conclusion of this chapter is that the immediate causes of the deaths do not include foul play, in the sense of unlawful, deliberate killing of Aboriginal prisoners by police and prison officers. More than one-third of the deaths (37) were from disease; 30 were self-inflicted hangings; 23 were caused by other forms of external trauma, especially head injuries; and 9 were immediately associated with dangerous alcohol and other drug use. Indeed, heavy alcohol use was involved in some way in deaths in each of these categories. The chapter concludes that glaring deficiencies existed in the standard of care afforded to many of the deceased.
  2. ↑ Wahlquist, Calla; Evershed, Nick; Allam, Lorena (29 August 2018). "More than half of 147 Indigenous people who died in custody had not been found guilty". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  3. ↑ Davidson, Helen; Allam, Lorena; Wahlquist, Calla; Evershed, Nick (30 August 2018). "'People will continue to die': coroners' 'deaths in custody' reports ignored". Guardian Australia.
  4. ↑ P. N. Grabosky, (1989), Wayward governance: illegality and its control in the public sector, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra ISBN 0 642 14605 5

Post Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in Custody. Green Left Weekly, 22.9.1993 by Ignatius Kim.

Daniel Yock : Coroner's report. Socialist Labour League website Kwementayaye Briscoe: Coroner's report. The Australian 18.9.2012 Troy Foster: ABC Online 9.12.2014 by Peter McCutcheon. Coroner's report Southport 24.11.2014 Edward Russell: Sydney Morning Herald 6.8.2003 Western Advocate 9.6.2003 George Drinken Freedom Socialist Bulletin, 1998 #19 by Ray Jackson Jayden Bennell Mulrunji Doomadgee "The Tall man" by Chloe Hooper (permission applied for) Bradley Coolwell: ABC news 11.4.2011 Sean Coolwell: ABC News 29.2.2016 Maureen Mandijarra: Coroners report Kumanjayi Langdon: The guardian 15,7.15 by Helen Davidson. Coroners report Dennis Phillips: Coroners report Rebecca Maher: Sydney Morning Herald 16.8.2016 David Dungay: ABC News 8.9.2016 by Brooke Boney and Lexie Metherell. Graham Charles Waters: Port Macquarie News 10.8.06 Joseph Duncan: Coroners report Patrick Fisher: Sydney Morning Herald 11.2.2018. ABC News 9.2.2018 by Jessica Kidd Mr Ward: ABC Goldfields 5.10.2011 by Emma Wynne Wayne "Fella" Morrison: VICE.com 27.1.2017 by Amy McQuire. National Indigenous radio service News 26.9.2016. Sydney Morning herald 20.10.2016 by Calla Wahlquist Steve Freeman: Coroner's report Frank Townsend: Justice Action website Belinda: Freedom Socialist Bulletin by Ray Jackson Veronica Baxter Star Observer

Further reading

  • John Pilger (1992): "A Secret Country" ISBN 0-09-915231-2
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