Aboriginal deaths in custody: a continuing systematic abuse

Abstract

Using a number of case studies, the article considers deaths in police custody and in prison, which highlight some of the ongoing issues relating to Aboriginal contact with the criminal justice system, in particular the failure to exercise a proper duty of care, and, more generally, the failure to reduce the levels of criminalization in the indigenous community. The Royal Commission also made specific recommendations designed to reduce the occurrence of deaths in custody, including the removal of hanging points from cells, increasing the awareness by custodial and medical staff of issues concerning the proper treatment of indigenous and non-indigenous prisoners, and a greater commitment to cross-cultural training for police, the judiciary, and other criminal justice staff. As noted, the RCADIC provided an important blueprint for changing the way in which the criminal justice system deals with Aboriginal people and for changing Aboriginal people's position in a postcolonial Australia.