Sansbury, Tauto --- "State and Territory Implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission: Overview" [2001] IndigLawB 29; (2001) 5(8) Indigenous Law Bulletin 6
State and Territory Implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission –
Overview
by Tauto Sansbury
When the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (‘RCIADIC’) was finalised and handed to governments for endorsement, Aboriginal people and communities expected changes that would improve the living standards of Aboriginal people and reduce the incarceration rates and the high number of deaths in custody. Ten years on, things are no better. Actually they are worse.
Numerous reports have been written in relation to the disadvantages that Aboriginal people are faced with in this country. In 1992 there was the National Commitment to Improved Outcomes in the Delivery of Programs and Services for Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments (‘COAG’).
The RCIADIC, conducted over three and a half years (October 1997 – April 1991), with its 339 recommendations handed down in May 1991, was the most in-depth report ever undertaken on Aboriginal people in this country. It looked at every issue that affected Aboriginal people then and still affects Aboriginal people today.
As a result of the RCIADIC more than $400 million was spent, looking at why Aboriginal people are the most disadvantaged and why they are continually drawn into the criminal justice system.
In 1997, as Chairperson of the National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee (‘National AJAC’), I led an Aboriginal delegation to a Ministerial Summit on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. There, every state government except the Northern Territory pledged their commitment through a Communiqué to implement the recommendations of the RCIADIC and to develop service agreements and jurisdictional plans under law and justice.
And now we have the COAG document of 3 November 2000 which basically tells us what we already know – that everything is not right in Australia for Aboriginal people, that there has been an increase in deaths in custody, that incarceration has increased and will continue to do so.
Since 1997, and to this very day, I have been disappointed in what has been achieved, which amounts to basically nothing. There have been more deaths in custody since the Report was handed down, and we will have more if governments across Australia continue to ignore the recommendations and the Aboriginal community.
As indicated in the following reports, there are varying levels of commitment to implementing the RCIADIC recommendations across Australia. However without consistent implementation, nothing that is going to make dramatic changes in Aboriginal society, nothing that is going to reduce the incarceration of Aboriginal people in this country, nothing that is going to stop Aboriginal deaths in custody will occur.
To stop what is happening in relation to Aboriginal deaths in custody and the continuing high rate of incarceration, governments must seriously address the underlying issues of the RCIADIC: health, education, housing, employment, native title and land needs.
The National AJAC gave a presentation to the Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (‘MCATSIA’) and the Attorneys-General in Brisbane in July 2000 on the current status of the RCIADIC and the Ministerial Summit on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, again with no outcome of commitment.
The anniversary of the release of the Royal Commission findings marks 10 years of mourning, which will continue if things don’t change for Aboriginal people. The only way we can make change is through raising awareness within our states and through protest at state, national and international levels.
Tauto Sansbury is Chairperson of the National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee.