Why '432 Indigenous deaths in custody' headlines can be deceiving
Notes on 6th June 5:50pm for the boys' gc
1.1 Summary of history
- Basically, 1980s have high levels of ATSI death in history, so they created the ‘Royal Commission into ATSI Deaths in Custody’ and reported on the 99 deaths from 1980-1989 and found none of these due to police violence (see section 1.2) BUT there is apparently a lack of proper medical care for Indigenous
- Then another report is made for the 1989-1996 period which found 96 deaths during this time (4). Notable findings:
o Evidence against differential treatment based on race:
§ “The proportion of deaths in police and prison custody was similar for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Approximately one-third of deaths occurred in police custody while two-thirds of deaths occurred in prison” (4)
§ “Indigenous people were more likely to die from natural causes while non-indigenous people were more likely to die from gunshot and drug overdoses” (4).
o Although there are higher proportions of Indigenous in jail vs non indigenous, this might be due to other factors besides racism (see section 1.4)
§ However, Indigenous people are still less likely to be granted bail than non-Aboriginal people (4). This may indicate racism playing a role but worth analysing why but I won’t since I ceebs so do it yourself.
o Evidence for ATSIs being shittily treated:
§ Read Chapter 8 on reference link no.4; Summarily:
· There are some points suggesting Indigenous programs were not well implemented, but Im unsure whether this also holds true for non-indigenous and therefore extent of racism role.
· Mostly it’s about police not following the right procedures to look out for indigenous wellbeing and just overall conditions of the prisons. I suspect these would probably also apply to non-indigenous people since recall the fact that proportion of deaths were similar for both groups. Nonetheless, worth digging deeper to see if racial mistreatment took place.
- Since then, there’s a report for 20 years up to 2011 which may show evidence supporting a lack of systematic racism but again issues regarding arrest remains (5):
o The report found both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous rates of deaths in custody have decreased over the last decade and are now some of the lowest ever seen (0.16 per 100 Indigenous prisoners and 0.22 per 100 non-Indigenous prisoners in 2010–11). For the last eight years in a row, the Indigenous rate of death in prison has been lower than the equivalent non-Indigenous rate. However, there is a concerning trend emerging, as the actual number of Indigenous deaths in prison were rising. (I address possible reasons why this is in section 1.4)
- The latest report I found (6) was published last year (2019) and has data for 25 years since the very start of it all (1991-2016) so fuck yes. Notably LOOK AT THIS BEAUTIFUL GRAPH BLESS UP AUSTRALIA:
o
o Study concluded that Indigenous people are now less likely than non-Indigenous people to die in prison custody, largely due to a decrease in the death rate of Indigenous prisoners from 1999–2000 to 2005–06. Coinciding with this decrease in the death rate of Indigenous prisoners is a decrease in the hanging death rate of Indigenous prisoners. Monitoring trends and characteristics of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous deaths in custody supports the development of proactive strategies addressing this important issue.
o Evidence regarding possible racism:
§ The majority of Indigenous prison deaths from 1991–92 to 2015–16 were due to natural causes (58%; n=140), followed by hanging (32%; n=78; Table A1). Twelve deaths (5%) were due to drugs and/or alcohol and nine (4%) were due to external trauma.
o OVERALL: Indigenous people were no more likely to die in custody than non- Indigenous people but were significantly more likely to be arrested and imprisoned.
- From 2018-2019:
o I thought to give some recent stats regarding mistreatment of Indigenous, but again Im not sure if this applies to non-indigenous as well so can’t fully claim racism and again definitely not related to police brutality.
§ The proportion of Indigenous deaths where medical care was required but not given increased, from 35.4% to 38.6%. (2)
§ The proportion of Indigenous deaths where not all procedures were followed in the events leading up to the death increased from 38.8% to 41.2%. (2)
Some factors that are worth tackling to solve the issue:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not being guaranteed fair trials due to the lack of funding and training leading to the availability of accredited interpreters (4).
o Increase funding for them
- Since I’ve said before death is due to improper medical care, agencies such as police watch-houses, prisons and hospitals failed to follow all of their own procedures in 41% of cases where Indigenous people died (1). Implementation of recommendations regarding these have not been implemented in any jurisdiction (4).
o idk how much is said about this as an agenda but def worth advocating for their implementation.
- Most other alternative options to promote change are listed on Chapter 12 of the report (reference link no. 4), so read it cus I aint gonna copy and paste in here.
- The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody investigated 99 cases of ATSI deaths in custody between 1 January 1980 and 31 May 1989.
o Concluded that the 99 deaths investigated were not due to police violence: I quote “central conclusion of this chapter is that the immediate causes of the deaths do not include foul play, in the sense of unlawful, deliberate killing of Aboriginal prisoners by police and prison officers. More than one-third of the deaths (37) were from disease; 30 were self-inflicted hangings; 23 were caused by other forms of external trauma, especially head injuries; and 9 were immediately associated with dangerous alcohol and other drug use. Indeed, heavy alcohol use was involved in some way in deaths in each of these categories. The chapter concludes that glaring deficiencies existed in the standard of care afforded to many of the deceased.” (3)
1.3 Regarding whether indigenous vs non-indigenous deaths differ as indication of differential treatment based on race:
- “The proportion of deaths in police and prison custody was similar for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Approximately one-third of deaths occurred in police custody while two-thirds of deaths occurred in prison” (4)
- “Indigenous people were more likely to die from natural causes while non-indigenous people were more likely to die from gunshot and drug overdoses” (4).
1.4 Why there might be a higher proportion of ATSIs in prison vs non-ATSI:
- ‘Indigenous people are twice as likely as non-Indigenous people to be arrested in circumstances where assault occasioning no harm is the most serious offence. They are three times more likely to be imprisoned for such an offence. This indicates that provocative policing is continuing through the use of the trifecta (offensive language, resist arrest and assault occasioning no harm).’ (4)
- ‘A significant number of Indigenous people were imprisoned for the trifecta (offensive language/resist arrest/assault police officer).’ (4)
o Although worth noting racism may still play a role here. Recall America in which they can still claim trifecta violations even if there is a lack of it (George Floyd claimed resisting but video clear show wasnt)
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