McGrath, A. “Chapter 10: The Legacy of History”. In The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Vol 2., 8-39. Canberra: Government Printer, 1992. (Author acknowledged; published under name of E. Johnston, Royal Commissioner.) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Futures, 2002
This article applies the futures research methodology called Causal Layered Analysis to the Australian Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Specifically the method is used to analyse the 339 recommendations of this Royal Commission that examined the causes of some 99 Aboriginal Deaths in Custody during the nine-year period from 1/1/1980. Spanning a generational period of 20 years, 10 of which since the multi million dollar Royal Commission and multi-multi million-dollar implementation process were put in place, aboriginal deaths in custody remain at the same rate. Conclusions are drawn about the inquiry, its inability to access deeper layers of cross-cultural causation and the separate implementation process. Further the failure of public administration in implementing the recommendations are also explored. Finally an 'act of recovery' is proposed to help us learn to prevent this happening again.
CRITICAL REFLECTIONS UPON AUSTRALIA'S ROYAL COMMISSION INTO ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY
Over a decade after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) tabled its National Report, the report and its 339 recommendations are still cited whenever suggestions are made or policies are introduced which target the over-representation of Indigenous people in custody. It is therefore timely and relevant that its appropriateness in dealing with Indigenous over-representation, and with Indigenous marginalisation generally, be critically reassessed. In particular, there is a need to consider whether the investigative procedures undertaken by the RCIADIC and the political constraints surrounding its inception resulted in non-orthodox information and perspectives being excluded. This paper uses data collected from interviews with 48 people associated with the RCIADIC in order to critically reflect upon the way in which the inquiry was established and conducted to determine whether it was constrained in its ability to fully consider the problems confronting Indigenous Australians when dealing with the Australian justice system.
30 years on: Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recommendations remain unimplemented
2021
This paper outlines concerns with the 2018 Deloitte Access Economics review of the implementation of the 339 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC). Here, we update a statement produced by Jordan et al. in December 2018, which argued that due to its scope and methodology, the Deloitte review had the potential to misrepresent the extent to which the RCIADIC recommendations had been implemented. Drawing on coronial inquest reports, we cite new evidence of the failure of governments to implement key RCIADIC recommendations and the fatal consequences for First Nations lives. We argue that there is a risk that misinformation may influence policy and practice responses to First Nations deaths in custody, and opportunities to address the widespread problems in Indigenous public policy in Australia may be missed. In particular, current approaches too often ignore the principles of self-determination and the realities of laws and policies as exper...
'Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in Colonial Australia, 1805–1860'
Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 2012
The majority of the 160,000 convicts transported to Australia in the nineteenth century were European, yet a small number of colonial subjects were also incorporated into Britain's Antipodean penal settlements. These included Aboriginal prisoners from the New South Wales frontier. By the 1850s a few Aboriginal convicts were incarcerated at Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour, where their comparatively high rate of death attracted administrative attention. This article situates these deaths in custody within the broader history of convict transportation. As well as an analysis of comparative death rates it uses a series of case studies to explore the factors that contributed to the higher death rate experienced by Aboriginal convicts in colonial Australia.
Another Aboriginal death in custody: uneasy alliances and tensions in the Mulrunji case
Legal Studies, 2008
The death of an Aboriginal man, Mulrunji, in an Australian police cell in 2004 precipitated an extraordinary response from the community. The usual distinctions between the roles of police, coroner, prosecutors and politicians became confused and merged in the media maelstrom that followed the death. Uneasy alliances developed which qualified the binary response of right versus wrong. Could the coroner's findings be reconciled with the decision of the prosecutor not to try the police officer involved? Was the government's response of overriding the decision of the independent prosecutor justified? What does this case tell us about the adversarial and inquisitorial approaches to evidence? This paper examines the tensions at play in the response to the death of Mulrunji and explores the wide reaching implications for law and justice in death in custody cases.
Missing Subjects: Women and Gender in The Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
2018
Although the Australian Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) tabled its National Report over a decade ago, its 339 recommendations are still used to steer Indigenous justice policy. The inquiry is viewed by many policy makers and scholars as an important source of knowledge regarding the post-colonial lives of Indigenous people. It began as an investigation into Indigenous deaths in custody, but its scope was later broadened to encompass a wide range of matters affecting Indigenous Australians. There have been numerous criticisms made about the way the investigation was conducted and about the effectiveness and appropriateness of the recommendations made. Of particular relevance to this thesis are those criticisms that have highlighted the failure of the RCIADIC to consider the problems confronting Indigenous women. It has been claimed that although problems such as family violence and the sexual abuse of Indigenous women by police were acknowledged by both t...