Senator Lidia Thorpe has called for a stronger federal framework to oversee prisons and policing after three people are reported to have died in custody in just the last week, and fresh revelations of child abuse in custodial settings have been aired.
A 42 year-old-man died in Western Australia’s Hakea Prison on Friday August 2nd, while in Victoria a 57-year-old person at Port Phillip Prison and a 35-year-old person at Fulham Correctional Centre died on the same day on Sunday August 4.
The deaths come after recent Productivity Commission Closing the Gap data showed rates of incarceration of First Peoples getting worse, and as the inquests into the deaths of Kumanjayi Walker and Cleveland Dodd continue to reveal shocking evidence of racism in policing, and human rights abuses in prisons.
Illustrating a national crisis, Thorpe pointed to recent revelations of child abuse in QLD watchouses, of child sexual abuse at Tasmania’s Ashley detention facility, the use of force and coercive control of children at Unit 18 in WA, the push to reintroduce spithoods for children in the NT, and NSWs move to incarcerate more children on remand.
Thorpe says that while federal governments have often shirked responsibility for justice reform, claiming it is a state responsibility, ongoing human rights abuses in all jurisdictions oblige the federal government to intervene more decisively.
She says that while whole-of-government solutions are needed, in the short term, a focus of a federal framework should be on provision of adequate health and mental health care in custodial settings, and diverting children away from custody and into support services focused on their welfare, not punishment.
In March Thorpe gained the support of an alliance of parliamentary crossbenchers for the federal government to urgently address overdue reforms to improve deaths in custody and child removals.
She says there has still been no meaningful federal action, and that states and territories are actively working against progress by pursuing more punitive justice policies, many targeted at children.
Quotes attributable to Lidia Thorpe, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent Victorian Senator:
“The latest deaths in custody are completely unacceptable. When will governments actually start to act on this? The 1991 Royal Commission recommendations are still not implemented, and governments just refuse to act.
“We’ve witnessed the most horrific child abuse in these government child prisons – small girls bashed by grown men, children sexually abused, locked for days in isolation, children hanging themselves as guards watch movies.
"This isn’t about one or two bad states – this is a national crisis.
"And Labor and Coalition party leaders want more of it. Across the country we’re watching the major parties racing to the bottom with ‘tough on crime’ policies, spreading fear and lies, and implementing punitive measures that have no evidence base, but will mean more kids abused and more people dying in custody.
"And Albanese and Dutton are actively supporting these harmful campaigns, hoping to win some State elections.
"I’m furious. I’ve raised these issues so many times with the Albanese government, and they just shrug their shoulders and say it's up to the states.
"I refuse to accept that excuse. It's an appalling abrogation of responsibility.
"Albanese, Dreyfus and Minister McCarthy are witnessing a national crisis unfold, they’re watching children be horrifically abused and people die preventable deaths alone in prison because they're denied basic healthcare.
"As far as I’m concerned, these three Labor politicians are culpable for these deaths and this child abuse.
"We need a strong, decisive federal response and proper leadership.
"I am calling on the Prime Minister, the new Indigenous Australians Minister, the Attorney General and also the Health Minister to act now. They need to reign in the states and start leading positive change.
"They need to work with First Peoples, and the health and community sectors, to create strong federal frameworks for policing and prisons that hold the states and territories accountable and stop the violence and abuse. They need to prioritise care, wellbeing and rehabilitation.
"We’ve seen how the government can bring together state ministers. They should get all the health and social services ministers together, bring in First Nations leaders and experts and come up with some new solutions here.
"If they are serious about Blak justice, this is what they need to do."