Executive summary

Foreword

By Professor James Ward PhD FAHMS
Director, University of Queensland, Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and Chair of the Expert Advisory Group

It has been almost 35 years since the report arising from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) was tabled in the Australian Parliament. The report contained 339 recommendations, many of which were beyond the initial scope of reducing Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and extending broadly to include reducing the over representation of Aboriginal people in custody.  Since then, there have been far too many deaths of Aboriginal people in custody. A common misnomer is that the recommendations from the RCIADC report have not been fully implemented, but to date, there has been limited work undertaken to document the status of implementation of the Royal Commission’s recommendations and to make this public for transparency, accountability and assurance.

This report provides evidence from a comprehensive audit conducted to assess the implementation status of 109 of the 339 recommendations that relate to Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) and Justice Health NSW. The audit was conducted between 2022 and 2024 led by an Expert Reference Group comprised of experts both internal and external to both CSNSW and Justice Health NSW. This audit of each of these 109 recommendations is part of larger project commissioned by CSNSW to better understand circumstances and responses to Aboriginal deaths in custody. Other components of the study include qualitative interviews with family and loved ones of Aboriginal people who have died in CSNSW custody and in-depth analysis of CSNSW processes and coronial reports for each death in Custody during the period 2010-2022.

The study is done in the interests of reducing Aboriginal Deaths in Custody with a commitment to accountability, fairness, transparency, and respect for all.