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Real-time deaths in custody measure does not go far enough, legal orgs say
The Albanese government has confirmed it will establish real-time reporting of all deaths in custody, with a dashboard launched to provide up-to-date data moving forward.
Lauren Croft
Thirty-two years on from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dying in prisons and police custody remains high. Since the commission handed down its recommendations in 1991, there have been more than 540 deaths in custody.
This means that all deaths in custody will now be reported in real time and will result in additional transparency and accountability, according to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
“National real-time reporting of deaths in custody enables greater public transparency of deaths in custody and accountability of all governments for their criminal justice systems. The dashboard will record data for every death in custody, not just Indigenous deaths,” he said.
“Consistent with the central finding of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the government is committed to reducing the over-incarceration of First Nations people.”
This measure is part of the government’s $99 million First Nations Justice Package announced in its 2022–23 budget to reduce the over-representation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system.
The real-time reporting of deaths in custody has been welcomed by the Aboriginal Legal Service — but chief executive Karly Warner said there was still more to be done.
“No one should die alone, in pain and fear, and forcibly separated from their loved ones. There is nothing natural about dying in custody, yet a shamefully disproportionate number of Aboriginal people continue to die in prisons and police operations each year,” she told Lawyers Weekly.
“We welcome up-to-date reporting to bring more transparency and accountability to this issue. This is a positive step, but there is much more that governments can do to stop deaths in custody, from implementing the remaining royal commission recommendations to ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services are adequately funded to keep our people out of prison wherever possible.”
Similarly, Law Council of Australia president Luke Murphy said that while this is a positive step, the country has not yet implemented a “cohesive national response” to combat deaths in custody.
“The Law Council welcomes this positive step to improve transparency on deaths in custody but underlines that more needs to be done in this area. In particular, more than 30 years after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which recognised that fundamentally, ‘too many Aboriginal people are in custody too often’, Australia has not implemented a comprehensive national response to address the disproportionate incarceration of First Nations people,” he said.
“The Law Council remains concerned that the incarceration rate of First Nations adults is worsening nationally, and recommendations to address over-incarceration, including recommendations of First Nations peoples, have not been fully implemented.”
The new Real-Time Deaths in Custody Dashboard provides “aggregate information on all deaths in custody at the national level”, according to a government statement. Information is provided on custody type (police or prison), Indigenous status (including unknown), and sex and age group of the deceased.
Additionally, the AIC will continue to provide verified information on deaths in custody on a quarterly and annual basis.
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
