Reflections on criminal justice policy since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody

Abstract

[Extract] The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCADIC) was established in 1987 and reported to the Federal Parliament in 1991. It was generated by the activism of Aboriginal organisations, including the Committee to Defend Black Rights and Aboriginal Legal Services, and by the efforts of the families of those who had died in custody and their supporters. The Royal Commission provided a benchmark in the examination of Indigenous relations with the criminal justice system.

The Commission found that the high number of Aboriginal deaths in custody was directly relative to the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody. However, failure by custodial authorities to exercise a proper duty of care was also exposed by the Royal Commission. The Commission found that there was little understanding of the duty of care owed by custodial authorities, that there were many system defects in relation to exercising care, and that there were many failures to exercise proper care. In some cases, the failure to offer proper care directly contributed to, or caused, the death in custody.