Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website contains the names and images of people who have passed
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website contains the names and images of people who have passed
History
History of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the Aboriginal Justice Caucus.
The Aboriginal Justice Caucus' (AJC) was created in 2000, in response to Recommendation 1 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 1991 (RCIADIC). Our history is therefore closely tied to the broader history of the implementation of recommendations from RCIADIC.
Despite the recommendations of RCIADIC being delivered over 35 years ago, many remain as important now as they were then. Since the Commission, the proportion of our Community in prisons in Victoria has almost tripled. Despite years of promises and policies, we continue to see our people overrepresented in the criminal legal system, and dying in custody. While different communities and organisations have different perspectives, we share a deep frustration that real change has been too slow – or hasn't happened at all.
That’s why the RCIADIC recommendations still matter. The system still isn’t designed for us, and the harm it causes keeps growing. Until there’s structural, self-determined change, the over-representation will continue.
Read more about some of the key moments in the lead up to Looking Back below.
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody is established
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) was established by the Australian Government in 1987, in response to public concern about the frequency with which Aboriginal people were dying in Custody. The RCIADIC was tasked with investigating all deaths that occurred between 1 January 1980 and 31 May 1989, as well as action taken in response to these deaths.
Throughout its investigations, the Commission created and collected about 200 shelf metres of records about each of the 99 deaths it investigated. These records include public submissions and hearings, research papers, and other commissioned historical, social and economic reports.
Given concerns around culturally sensitive material, not all material from the RCIADIC is publicly available but some is. Records of the Commission are held by the National Archive, and information on access can be found here.
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 1991 is handed down
In 1991, the RCIADIC handed down a report which included 339 recommendations to Commonwealth, and state and territory governments. These recommendations primarily aimed to reduce over-incarceration and its precursors to keep Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples out of prison.
The largest number of RCIADIC recommendations relate to policing, criminal justice, incarceration, and coronial responses to Aboriginal deaths in custody. Recommendations also span social and economic development-related portfolios such as health, education, employment and self-determination in recognition of the breadth of factors leading to high rates of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
National Reporting on Implementation
Following release of the RCIADIC National Report in April 1991, all Australian Governments agreed to annual jurisdictional reporting. The Victorian Government produced Royal Commission Implementation Reports in 1992, 1994 and 1995-96 that followed a ‘recommendation-by-recommendation' reporting approach. These reports illustrated commitment on behalf of successive Victorian governments to implement RCIADIC recommendations to the furthest extent possible within Victoria. In these Reports, 289 recommendations were considered either implemented in full or in the process of ongoing implementation and development, 13 recommendations were unsupported, and 37 deemed not relevant to Victoria.
Creation of the Aboriginal Justice Caucus
In 1997, Victoria participated in the National Summit into Deaths in Custody. The Summit was attended by Attorneys-General, Ministers for Police, Ministers for Community Services, Ministers for Aboriginal Affairs, Aboriginal representatives of the National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee (NAJAC) and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. All government (excluding the Northern Territory) and Aboriginal representatives at the summit agree to develop jurisdictional based ‘strategic plans’ to address the issues highlighted by the RCIADIC and reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody.
Following this Summit, the Victorian Government worked with the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee’ (VAJAC) to develop the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA) ‘as the State's key strategy for responding to the Royal Commission’s Recommendations.’ The first AJA was signed in May 2000.
No further reports on Royal Commission implementation were produced until the Victorian Implementation Review of the Recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (conducted during 2003-04 and published in 2005).
2005 Victorian Implementation Review (2005 Review)
The 2005 Review arose from a commitment under the first phase of the AJA to conduct a joint review that examined government’s self-assessments of implementation progress for RCIADIC recommendations through the views and experiences of the Aboriginal community. While government self-assessments identified 61 % of recommendations as complete, the review found significant disparities between what the Aboriginal community was experiencing and what was being reported by government departments and agencies.
The 2005 Review differed to earlier reviews as it was led by two independent and highly respected Aboriginal Chairpersons, Aunty Joy Murphy and Dr Mark Rose, and provided a direct channel for Aboriginal views and experiences concerning the implementation of the RCIADIC recommendations. This review found that despite undeniable progress in areas such as education, health and housing and reforms in the criminal justice system, there was still a long journey ahead to implement all RCIADIC recommendations in Victoria. The review found that policies, programs and initiatives reported on by Victorian governments had not achieved the desired outcome of reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal people in police and prison custody. It made 164 recommendations for further monitoring and work to achieve this aim.
2018 Independent Review of the Implementation of the Recommendations of the RCIADIC (2018 Review)
The 2018 Review, conducted by Deloitte Access Economics, was commissioned by the Commonwealth to understand implementation progress nationally.
This review was desktop based and informed only by government self-assessments of implementation progress—a limitation that Deloitte acknowledged in their report (p ix).
The result has been that the 2018 Review has been widely criticised for significant methodological limitations and its failure to engage with Aboriginal people and organisations and their perspectives on progress.
The review found that only 81 of the 300 RCIADIC recommendations applicable to Victoria had not been fully implemented. Relatively large deficiencies in implementation progress were found in the areas of self-determination, cycles of offending, and non-custodial approaches.
Reiteration through Coronial Inquest Recommendations
The Victorian Government’s failure to implement many RCIADIC recommendations has meant that the same recommendations have been raised during subsequent coronial inquests into Aboriginal deaths in custody. However, akin to RCIADIC recommendations, the AJC has serious concerns about the lack of accountability and monitoring of implementation of coronial recommendations.