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Introduction
Every person in custody regardless of their background has a right to life, safety, and humane treatment. Preventing deaths in custody is a human rights issue.
When a preventable death occurs in the custodial environment, families, loved ones and communities are understandably devastated and seek answers from the system. Perceived system failings and lack of immediate information around the circumstances of a death can deepen mistrust. It can also perpetuate trauma and undermine reconciliation efforts between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Staff working in custodial environments who are exposed to such adverse events also experience considerable stress that is even more felt deeply when misinformation about their actions or inaction enters the public domain.
A systematic and collaborative approach to understanding and preventing deaths in custody is essential for building a fair and just correctional system. This must be built on a commitment to fairness, transparency, and respect for all. Working to address this issue will help restore public confidence in correctional institutions and prevent the loss of life.
While the Closing the Gap National Agreement includes a priority for reducing the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in custodial settings, there is more that can be done to address the direct causes of deaths by paying attention to factors that may prevent circumstances that give rise to deaths in custody from developing.
Addressing the complex interplay of social, structural and systemic issues is paramount to reducing the over representation of Aboriginal people in custody as well as deaths in custody.
While there are no simple solutions, the best possible responses come from listening closely to Aboriginal people and respecting their knowledge. Aboriginal leadership is needed and must be recognised and supported. As Hal Wootten AC QC remarked on the 20th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Death in Custody:
... you will never get anywhere unless you respect Aboriginal people, recognise their difference, and let them take control of their lives.1
Footnote:
1 Hal Wootten - A former member of the Royal Commission in a paper delivered on 18 May 2011 at the Queensland University of Technology School of Justice
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We acknowledge Aboriginal people as the First Nations Peoples of NSW and pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future.
Informed by lessons of the past, Department of Communities and Justice is improving how we work with Aboriginal people and communities. We listen and learn from the knowledge, strength and resilience of Stolen Generations Survivors, Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal communities.
You can access our apology to the Stolen Generations.