Aboriginal police officers in the NT underpaid and racially abused, a new class action alleges

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story includes the name of an Indigenous person who has passed away.

When former AFL player for Essendon, Shawn Lewfatt, signed up as an Aboriginal Community Police Officer in Darwin in 1998, he was excited by the chance to work with his own people "for the better".

Now, he says, he would "never encourage" his adult children to join the Northern Territory Police Force (NTPF).

"My aim is that hopefully one day I can turn to young people and encourage them to join," he told SBS News.

Lewfatt is part of a landmark class action filed in the Federal Court against the NTPF seeking compensation for allegations of racial discrimination and racial vilification while serving as Aboriginal Community Police Officers (ACPOS) going back almost three decades.

"Our clients allege they were underpaid, provided fewer opportunities for career advancement and subjected to persistent racist conduct while serving communities across the NT," Seb O'Meara of Gordon Legal, who is representing the ACPOs in the class action, told SBS News.

The class action, run on behalf of all present and former Aboriginal police officers in the NT Police, seeks to speed up reform following the 2019 police shooting of Kumanjayi Walker and the subsequent inquest, which shone the spotlight on systemic racism within the NT Police Force.

A spokesperson for the NTPF told SBS News they were aware of ongoing legal proceedings, and it would be inappropriate to comment further.

'A foreigner in my hometown'

Despite growing up in Darwin, Lewfatt told SBS News that when he walked through the doors of the police station, he felt like a "foreigner in my hometown".

"I felt immediately weird in the way they would speak about Aboriginal people, and it became clear to me that it was the norm."

Lewfett, who remains on the Force on leave, alleged he witnessed "unlawful assaults on Indigenous people", including one incident involving a non-Aboriginal police officer urinating into a wine cask belonging to an Aboriginal member of the public who had stashed it in a public toilet.

Lewfatt said that racism in the force is embedded in the culture, rather than in individuals.

"It's the systematic racism where there are a lot of good people who may not be racist but do not call out racism either when they come across it."

Lewfatt's first complaint was made public in September 2024, when The Australian newspaper reported details of a complaint made by him and at least 20 serving Aboriginal police officers to the Australian Human Rights Commission alleging racial discrimination and unequal pay for Aboriginal Community Police Officers.

Then, the coronial inquest into Walker's shooting by former territory constable Zachary Rolfe heard allegations of racist awards handed out to NT cops.

"I could hear something racist nearly every day," Rolfe told the inquest in 2024.

The coronial inquest ultimately found that while there was a risk that Rolfe's "racism" affected his interactions with Walker, he was not "motivated by racism".

Reforms to NT policing

Since Walker's shooting, NT Police have taken steps towards reform.

In July 2024, Arrernte woman Leanne Liddle was appointed Northern Territory Police executive director of cultural reform to address accusations of systemic racism in the force.

In August 2024, former NT police commissioner Michael Murphy apologised to First Nations people for 150 years of harm.

"This strategy is about confronting that reality," he said.

Lewfatt's complaint was in mediation before the Human Rights Commission until May this year, according to O'Meara at Gordon Legal.

Following unsuccessful mediation, the class action was lodged in the Federal Court on 17 July.

It's understood the class action also alleges ACPOs earned lower pay and fewer workplace entitlements while performing similar work to constables.

"They feel that they had no choice other than to take the legal action that they've taken as a result of their concerns, because they feel strongly that internally their complaints really have gone nowhere," O'Meara said.

"Our clients are hopeful that it sends a message to other Aboriginal Community Police Officers who are concerned that they have themselves been the victim of racial discrimination at some point in their careers, that they can step forward and participate in this class action."

The first hearing will be held on 19 August.

Readers seeking support can ring Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14, visit lifeline.org.au or find an Aboriginal Medical Service here. Resources for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders can be found at Headspace: Yarn Safe.

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