TRANSCRIPT
A warning - the following story contains elements that may distress some people.
33.
It's the highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody in four decades.
New data from the Australian Institute of Criminology finds 33 of the 113 people who died in police or prison custody in the last financial year were of First Nations heritage, taking up 29 per cent of the total number.
According to the 2021 Census, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represent less than 4 per cent of the total Australian population.
The report also finds 26 of the Indigenous deaths in custody happened in prison, while one occurred in youth detention.
New South Wales recorded nine cases, the highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody for the states and territories.
It's also the highest number recorded in New South Wales in the past four decades.
Most were men, only one woman died in prison custody.
Nerita Waight is the chief executive of Victoria's Aboriginal Legal Service.
She says she's not surprised about the historically high figure.
"This is our day-to-day experience, and many of those deaths are preventable. And their deaths are ones that these communities can never recover, these families can never be with their loved ones again, and often enough, and most heartbreaking for these families, is that time and time again, they are seeing these issues raised."
In 1987, Australia launched a Royal Commission into Indigenous Deaths in Custody and a report was handed down 1991, making over 300 recommendations.
But since the royal commission, there have been 617 Indigenous deaths in custody, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology.
Ms Waight says many systemic issues still exist.
"So racist policing practices, harmful systems built on oppression, are continuing to fail Aboriginal communities and an alarming part of the report is that 42 per cent of Aboriginal death in custody in 2024 and 2025 (financial year) were people who were yet to be sentenced, and that was direct result of the community bail system, which obviously disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander people."
Tobias Elliott-Orr is the First Nations Solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre.
He says while it's worth reviewing some of the Royal Commission recommendations made three decades ago, the majority of recommendations are still relevant today.
"You know we are seeing an increasing Aboriginal prison population, we are seeing an increase in how much police will use force against Aboriginal people, disproportionately use force against Aboriginal people, we are yet to see a real meaningful shift toward community-led intervention programs and restorative kind of practices that, you know, all the evidence is there that incarcerated people and you know, using the criminal justice system, the prison system doesn't work."
Mr Elliot-Orr says Australia has also stepped backward in tackling the issue.
"It's well accepted that the traditional criminal justice system, its punitive approach with, you know, prison and tough on crime and harsher punishment, that doesn't work. It's really clear evidence that it doesn't work, and it actually makes these issues worse. What we are seeing like the jurisdiction in the NT and Victoria is that they are reducing the age of criminal responsibility, they are throwing young people into the criminal justice system at earlier age for longer period. And the end of result that's gonna have is it's going to increase these prison population, the products of those is gonna be an increase in deaths in custody."
State and territory governments are responsible for implementing many of the Royal Commission's recommendations.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he has been calling on state and territory governments to take action.
"(I) always engage with states and territories about responsibilities that they have to fulfil the recommendations that were there from the Royal Commission. That is a decision of course of the state and territories, we can't impose under our federal system."
But Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe told the ABC it's time for the federal government to stop shifting the responsibilities to the states and territories.
"National cabinet needs to happen. We saw action on vaping, we saw action on social media ban, where the states and territories have come together, we need the same action to be taken on deaths in custody, because every death in custody is blood on Albanese's hands."
For culturally appropriate Indigenous support call 13 YARN.. a 24 hour national telephone helpline on 13 92 76 which provides support across a range of issues including mental health. https://www.13yarn.org.au/
