It's over 33 years since the then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke - in response to increasing public concern that Aboriginal deaths were too common and poorly investigated - announced the formation of a Royal Commission to investigate the causes of these deaths around the country.
The Royal Commission’s final report - tabled on April 15, 1991 - found indigenous people were more likely to die in custody because they were more likely to be in custody. Their over-representation in police custody and prison was described as “grossly disproportionate”.
This has not changed in the intervening 30 years.
As a recent statement by 15 families of those who have died in custody states, “The ongoing effects of colonialisation and dispossession, discriminatory policies and systemic racism have pushed our people to be the most imprisoned people on Earth. This means we’re more likely to die in police or prison custody.”
In 1991, the Royal Commission found that there were many social injustices such as child removals, family violence and lack of housing that meant Aboriginal people were more likely to get caught up in the justice system.
Thirty years later nothing has changed.
The deaths continue – at least 474 since April 1991 – and of these, five during March this year, alone.
Labor Senator and Yawuru man Pat Dodson, one of the Royal Commissioners, described the current number of deaths as a “national shame”.
“Only strong national leadership and fundamental policy changes can avert this crisis,” he said.
In 2021, systemic racism is still killing Aboriginal people.
The Guardian Australia’s recent analysis of Aboriginal deaths found that indigenous people who died in custody were more likely to have not been charged with any crime, that medical issues were the most common cause of death and that indigenous people were three times as likely to not receive all required medical treatment.
In addition, in 43 per cent of cases where an indigenous person died, police watch-houses, prisons and hospitals failed to follow their own procedures, compared with 19 per cent of cases of non-indigenous people.
As the 15 families say, “This system is killing our people and our future”.
In April 2021, grieving families are still fighting to have all the recommendations of the Royal Commission implemented.
They are still fighting to have an independent investigative body to inquire into deaths in custody.
They are still fighting for funding that focuses on strengthening and improving communities.
They are still fighting to have punitive bail laws and mandatory sentencing laws repealed and public drunkenness decriminalised nationally.
In Victoria, it was the strong campaigning by the family of Tanya Day, that led to a change to the law, decriminalising public drunkenness, so it would be treated as a medical, not criminal issue. That change to the law will come into effect on November 7, 2022.
“Our communities have had the solutions to end this injustice for 30 years, but governments have chosen not to prioritise saving Black lives,” the 15 families’ statement went on to say.
In light of all the evidence, is it no wonder that these grieving families are saying, “Enough is enough”?
In light of all the evidence, it is clear that it is action not words that is needed.
In light of all the evidence, we as a nation, must do better.
We must fully implement all the findings of the 1991 Royal Commission, now!
To do less is condoning systemic racism, and is this the action of a fair and just nation?
● On the 30th anniversary, we all have a role to play to ensure governments are forced to reckon with their actions and are held accountable.
So what can you do?
As Lidia Thorpe, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman and Greens Senator said at the recent rally in Melbourne (Naarm), “You need to talk to your families, your friends, your workplaces, your clubs, your associations, everywhere you have influence.”
Visit https://changetherecord.org.au/RCIADIC to read the key steps governments can take to end Black deaths in custody.
Sign the petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-calling-on-the-prime-minister-to-meet-with-families-whose-loved-ones-have-died-in-custody-in-april?source=email&&
Read, find out, learn; Read the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody: final report (apo.org.au/node/30017)
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