Broken Promises, Broken Lives: Australia’s Failure on Deaths in Custody

It’s been nearly four decades since the launch of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which began in 1987 and delivered its final report in 1991.

But despite the extensive investigation into the alarming rate of deaths among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in police and prison custody, the tragedy still persists today.

Indeed, the Commission’s pivotal report exposed systemic racism and discriminatory practices as the root causes behind the disproportionate number of Indigenous deaths. Crucially, it emphasised that Indigenous peoples were dying in custody at higher rates because they were disproportionately arrested and imprisoned – not because of their behaviour.

And as a result, a total of 339 recommendations were proposed, urging fewer arrests, alternatives to incarceration, improved healthcare, better legal support and action on deeper issues like poverty, systemic neglect and racism.

These measures aimed not only to protect Indigenous lives but also to rectify the systemic injustices deeply entrenched in Australia’s justice system.

Nevertheless, more than thirty years later, these recommendations remain largely unimplemented. Consequently, approximately 590 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since the Royal Commission concluded – 590 lives tragically lost due to ongoing governmental inaction.

Kacey Teerman, a Gomeroi woman and Indigenous Rights Campaigner with Amnesty International, underscores the ongoing tragedy:

“Every child in a watch house, in youth detention, every adult in a cell, is part of a system that continues to disproportionately harm Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

Furthermore, Amnesty International continues to advocate strongly for the full implementation of the Commission’s recommendations, explicitly linking this advocacy to their campaign to raise the age of criminal responsibility. They argue compellingly that when governments criminalise children as young as ten, overlook the impacts of trauma, and prioritise incarceration over prevention, they exacerbate the very issues the Royal Commission warned against.

Ultimately, Amnesty encourages Australians to learn more about allyship through their resources, such as the First Nations Ally Guide, and to join them actively in the ongoing struggle for truth, justice, and accountability.