Skye Kakoschke-Moore (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 479 standing in the names of Senators Griff and Xenophon and in my name relating to Aboriginal deaths in custody.

Leave granted.

I, and also on behalf of Senators Griff and Xenophon, move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a)   notes that:

(i)   on 22 August 2017, Mr Kunmanara Gibson, a 47-year-old Aboriginal man for whom English was a second language, died in custody after being found unconscious in his cell at Adelaide’s city watch house,

(ii)   an Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) duty officer was advised of Mr Gibson’s arrest, however, the South Australian Aboriginal Visitor’s Scheme, operated by the ALRM, was not informed of Mr Gibson’s arrest until after he died,

(iii)   one of the key recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was that all states notify a custody notification service whenever an Indigenous person is arrested to offer support, language and legal services,

(iv)   recommendation 224 states: 'in jurisdictions where legislation, standing orders or instructions do not already so provide, appropriate steps be taken to make it mandatory for Aboriginal Legal Services to be notified upon the arrest or detention of any Aboriginal person other than such arrests or detentions for which it is agreed between the Aboriginal Legal Services and the Police Services that notification is not required',

(v)   in October last year, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs announced that the Coalition Government had written to all state and territory governments offering to fund a national roll-out of the Custody Notification Service (CNS) – similar to the scheme that currently operates in New South Wales, and credited with saving the lives of Aboriginal people in custody – the three year funding offer was to be contingent on the jurisdictions mandating the use of the CNS and agreeing to fund it after the three-year introductory period,

(vi)   to date, ALRM has been operating a limited Custody Notification Service in South Australia, however, it does not satisfy requirements of a best practice model, as exemplified by the NSW scheme,

(vii)   Mr Gibson’s death is the second Aboriginal death in police custody in the last three months nationally, and the fourth in South Australia in the past year,

(viii)   last year marked the 25th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and

(ix)   according to figures obtained from the Australian Institute of Criminology, between 1987 and 1991, while the Royal Commission was underway, there were 23 Indigenous deaths in prison custody and 28 in police custody – from 2009 to 2013 there were a further 41 Indigenous deaths in prison custody and 19 in police custody; and

(b)   calls on:

(i)   the Coalition Government to urgently negotiate a solution with those jurisdictions that have yet to implement a Custody Notification Service consistent with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and

(ii)   those state and territory governments that have yet to implement a Custody Notification Service consistent with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody to do so.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government supports the implementation of custody notification services in each state and territory to ensure an Aboriginal Legal Service is contacted when an Indigenous person is taken into custody. That is why the government offered funding and support to the states and territories to legislate and take up their responsibility for this recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. This government has put the offer on the table. It is now up to the state and territory governments to do the right thing and introduce this support for Indigenous Australians.

Question agreed to.