Death of Aboriginal man at Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison Sparks Investigation

The Western Australia Department of Justice announced that 31-year old Aboriginal man was found unresponsive in his cell at Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison in Kalgoorlie-Boulder of Western Australia on Wednesday afternoon.

Staff provided first aid until paramedics arrived. The man was later pronounced dead in Kalgoorlie Hospital, 600km of Perth.

“Preliminary reports indicate there were no suspicious circumstances,” a Department of Justice spokesperson said in press release.

Under Western Australia law, the police will be required to prepare a report for the State Coroner in cases involving death in custody.

The man’s death marks the fourteenth death in custody this year, and the fourth involving an Indigenous prisoner.

At only 31-years of age, the death speaks to a larger issue of the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Australia.

Since the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991, almost 600 Indigenous people have been pronounced dead in custody. With over 300 recommendations made in this commission, many suggestions were ignored and remain unimplemented to this day.