Aboriginal deaths in custody

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.[1]

Details

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was set up in 1987 to investigate allegations made in relation to deaths of Australian Aboriginal people in prison. The Royal Commission's report stated 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". The report found that around a quarter of the deaths investigated were due to "external trauma, especially head injuries" and noted "glaring deficiencies existed in the standard of care afforded to many of the deceased", concluding that "the life styles of the Aboriginal people who died in custody, along with the procedures adopted by custodians and others, are the central determinants of their deaths".[1]

The issue has recently surfaced again in the 2004 Palm Island death in custody controversy, and the death of Western Australian elder Mr Ward in a prisoner transport in 2008.[2]

The ABC News24 reported on 17 September 2012 that an Aboriginal death in custody in January 2012 was, according to a judge, preventable.[3] An inquest into the death in custody of an Aboriginal man took place in the Coroner's Court in Alice Springs, the Northern Territory, in June 2012.[4][5]

A 2013 review of deaths in custody by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that the number of Aboriginal deaths in custody had increased over the previous five years. The report found that most of the deaths were due to natural causes like cancer and heart conditions, replacing self-harm as the leading cause of deaths in custody. AIC director Dr. Adam Tomison also noted that "especially for the last eight years, Indigenous people in custody have been less likely to die in custody than non-Indigenous people."[6]

Notable incidents

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "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. ↑ "Aboriginal Legal Service 'flabbergasted' by death in custody decision". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2010-06-28. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  3. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/series/2932730]
  4. ↑ ABC News: Aboriginal death in custody inquest begins, 12 June 2012.
  5. ↑ Aboriginal death in custody inquest begins for Kwementyaye Briscoe
  6. ↑ Cuddihy, Martin (24 May 2013). "Aboriginal deaths in custody numbers rise sharply over past five years". Radio Australia.
  7. ↑ P. N. Grabosky, (1989), Wayward governance: illegality and its control in the public sector, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra ISBN 0 642 14605 5

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

See also

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