Lowering Indigenous incarceration rates is a key aim of the Closing The Gap targets, but there are more First Nations people behind bars than ever. How did this happen and what can fix it?
Indigenous community members outside the Victorian coroners court ahead of the release of a report into the death of Veronica Nelson.
Tamati Smith/Getty Images
Arrested on suspicion of shoplifting and denied bail, Veronica Nelson died alone in a cell. A Victorian coroner has called for urgent reform of the state’s tough bail laws.
Protesters hold placards during an Indigenous deaths in Custody protest in Sydney , June 2022.
Bianca De Marchi/AAP
Russell Marks’ Black Lives, White Law is not about solutions; it’s about identifying the problems with Australia’s criminal legal system, and the injustice it does to First Nations people.
There has been a global shift to declare racism a public health crisis. But we need to drill deeper to understand racism, rethink health data and listen to lived experience.
It’s tempting to see the sentencing of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd as an American phenomenon. But that is to ignore past and present injustice much closer to home.
Here, where the Black Lives Matter movement has brought focus to First Nations people dying in custody, media attention has been episodic and too often absent.
Provided by author
George Floyd’s death and the US Black Lives Matter movement sparked extensive media attention. Why aren’t Australian Indigenous deaths in custody getting the same amount of media coverage?
Prisons need to improve services for chronic conditions, mental health, and palliative care.
Andrew Mercer/ Wikimedia
Despite the disproportionate numbers of Aboriginal people in prisons, there are near to no cultural protocols in place, and chronic illness is often not addressed.
Many of the royal commission’s recommendations concerning families primarily regard the circumstances of their loved one’s death rather than inclusion in decision-making processes.
Supplied by Latoya Aroha Rule
We have a long tradition of royal commissions in Australia — dating back to before federation. But we know from bitter experience they can fail to generate change.
The Royal Commission recommends that all media organisations should be encouraged to develop codes and policies relating to the presentation of Aboriginal issues.
Biance De Marchi/AAP
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody made recommendations to ensure ethical reporting of these deaths. Despite this, harmful and inaccurate reporting still abounds.
There have been 474 deaths in custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
AAP
Investigations and inquests that follow a death in custody can offer insight into what happened. But much work is still needed to make these processes transparent and effective.
As the US continues to protest the death of George Floyd, Australia is choosing not to look at the hundreds of Indigenous deaths in custody here.
Family members of Tanya Day march to the Coroners Court after a smoking ceremony. Day’s inquest will consider if systemic racism was a factor in her death in custody.
David Crosling/AAP
The 1991 Royal Commission into deaths in custody was preceded by an 1850 inquiry, which recommended that Aboriginal people be released should their health deteriorate in gaol.
Cape York Partnership founder Noel Pearson, speaking on Q&A.
Q&A
Cape York Partnership founder Noel Pearson told Q&A that Indigenous Australians were ‘the most incarcerated people on the planet Earth’. Is that right?
The royal commission has heard evidence from more than 60 witnesses, including those in youth detention in the Northern Territory.
AAP/Lucy Hughes Jones
The NT youth justice royal commission’s interim report did not deliver any findings or make any recommendations. Nor did it reflect young people’s personal stories.
Paul Keating recognised the significant opportunities – and political risks – the High Court’s Mabo decision presented.
National Archives of Australia
Cabinet papers reveal the extent to which the Keating government was torn between concern for fiscal responsibility and a desire to tackle Indigenous disadvantage and pursue meaningful reconciliation.
Four Corners has refocused national attention on Indigenous incarceration rates, but there are several problems with prison data collections.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
The official data show incarceration rates of Indigenous people have doubled since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 25 years ago. But the problem may be even worse than that.