Demanding action on repeated violence at the Alexander Maconochie Centre
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (ATSIEB) joins Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services and Independent MLA Thomas Emerson in calling for a Board of Inquiry into the treatment of Aboriginal detainees at Canberra’s prison – the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC).
The ATSIEB is appalled at the reports of another Aboriginal detainee hospitalised after a violent assault on the weekend. This comes after three deaths in custody in the last six months and other reports of violence at the AMC. The ATSIEB supports systemic action to address the escalating rate of Aboriginal people dying in custody.
ATSIEB member for Justice and Community Safety, Kaylene McLeod, said the safety and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees must be the highest priority for the ACT Government.
‘Incidents have left detainees and families feeling unsafe and racially targeted. The safety and wellbeing of the detainees should be paramount. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should not have to constantly live in fear worrying about the safety and the possibility of losing their family member to another death in custody,’ Ms McLeod said.
‘The facility is culturally unsafe for the detainees. The alarming rate of incidents that have occurred resulting in a number of deaths in custody and assaults is of extreme concern to the ATSIEB and the community.’Ms McLeod highlights that ‘since the Royal Commission into the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was established in 1987 there have been 590 recorded deaths in custody and an excessive number of assaults perpetrated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody.’
ATSIEB Chairperson Maurice Walker adds that the ATSIEB is appalled at the report of another alleged assault at the Alexander Maconochie Centre to Aboriginal detainees. He’s tired of repeated calls for reform not being heeded and wants to see strong action by the government.
‘We have had recommendation after recommendation from former Royal Commission in Deaths in Custody, the inquiry into overrepresentation, and recently independent review of circumstances leading up to reports of discrimination, mistreatment and death of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees at the AMC, and nothing has changed,’ Mr Walker said.
‘The community has had enough. We have heard of numerous incidents in recent weeks and are in fear that if they are not stopped, this will lead to yet another death in custody.
‘We call for an inquiry into the treatment of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees.’
Independent MLA Thomas Emerson is expected to bring a motion to the ACT Legislative Assembly this week backing Winnunga’s and the community’s calls for a Board of Inquiry into the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at the AMC.
The motion will be debated in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday afternoon.
