deaths in custody

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services – the key to closing the justice gap

  9th Feb 2023

  ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services were at the genesis of self-determination, they were the engine room for reform, and they are still the advocates and the protectors of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,’ writes Jamie McConnachie.

• Coronial findings response: Greater cultural consideration and a therapeutic approach urgently needed in Victorian bail decisions

  30th Jan 2023

  A requirement that the police and the court must explicitly consider a person’s Indigenous status when making decisions in regards to bail and sentencing would help address the systemic failures highlighted today by Coroner Simon McGregor’s investigation into the death of Indigenous woman, Veronica Nelson.

• NSW Coroner’s Court needs restructure and more resourcing to reduce delays

  29th Sep 2021

  The NSW Coroner’s Court needs to be restructured and better resourced to reduce the current extensive delays, allow it to better examine systemic issues and ensure its recommendations are acted on, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• 30 years since Royal Commission: criminal justice system still fails First Nations people

  14th Apr 2021

  Australia’s criminal justice system continues to fail First Nations people 30 years after the findings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody were handed down, say lawyers.

• Legal and welfare checks should be extended to save Aboriginal lives in custody

  12th Sep 2019

  Professor Thalia Anthony argues that to prevent deaths in custody, a custody notification service must be properly funded and available to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody, including those who are detained in protective custody or following a paperless arrest.