This Saturday 7 October will be a national day of action to end deaths in custody.
First Nations activists and supporters will be hosting rallies happening across the continent in Melbourne, Boorloo/Perth, Meanjin/Brisbane, and Kaurna/Adelaide.
The rallies will be calling on governments to implement in full all recommendations from the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC).
Senator Lidia Thorpe is throwing her support behind the day of action, and has initiated an online petition calling on federal, state and territory governments to fully implement all recommendations from the Royal Commission. The petition highlights a number of steps that the federal government could take immediately to end deaths in custody: more details on the petition here.
The following quotes are attributable to Senator Lidia Thorpe, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman and independent Victorian Senator representing the Blak Sovereign Movement:
“Our people are the most incarcerated people in the world, and continue to die at the hands of a racist and violent system that has no regard for our safety.
“Separating our children, women and men from their families and their culture is a continuation of the cultural genocide that this nation is founded upon, and deaths in custody are the result of the ongoing violence perpetrated by the colonial project.”
“Governments on all levels are not just failing to take urgent action but are actively funding the agencies, institutions and individuals that kill us, while refusing to hold a single individual or agency accountable.
“If the Albanese Government wants to show any respect for First Peoples and actually do their job, they will stop killing us and implement in full the recommendations that have been sitting on the shelf for 32 years.
“This is a matter of life and death for our people and I call on supporters to attend a rally and sign the petition to end our people dying at the hands of the system.”
Quotes attributable to Natasha Wanganeen, Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, Kaurna and Noongar woman and organiser of Adelaide rally:
“Everyone should be standing on the streets to stop deaths in custody. If we don’t stand up they will keep killing us.”