Urgent call for action and police oversight after ‘abhorrent’ conduct in ACT watch house towards Aboriginal youth
The deeply distressing actions of a watch house officer towards a 17-year-old Aboriginal boy held in custody at the ACT Watch House are a stark and sad representation of the behaviour and racism Aboriginal people face when in contact with the justice system in the ACT.
Footage played in a recent ACT Supreme Court hearing revealed shocking verbal abuse and cruelty directed at a young detainee. He endures being tasered, taunted, humiliated, assaulted and emotionally abused while in the custody of ACT Policing.
The Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, said the incident amounted to ‘abhorrent misconduct’. Further, the incident had been referred to the Australian Federal Police and nothing was done.
The system is clearly broken and is failing the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (ATSIEB) Chairperson Maurice Walker fully supports the commissioner’s request for greater oversight of ACT Policing.
‘This is disturbing behaviour by an ACT Policing officer. To think that our young people are being treated like this is shameful for the ACT Police,’ said Mr Walker.
‘The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner’s position was created to ensure our young people are treated in safe and protected environments. That role must be given the full authority and influence afforded to other commissioners.’
Justice and Community Safety portfolio representative Kaylene McLeod said the incident was a clear and distressing example of systemic racism and abuse. The ACT’s detention environments — including the Watch House, AMC, and Bimberi Youth Justice Centre — continue to prove they are not a safe environment for Aboriginal young people.
‘My heart breaks for this young man and the treatment he endured while in custody at the ACT Watch House,’ said Ms McLeod.
‘There is no cultural safety or sensitivity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in these systems.’
Ms McLeod raised concerns that the officer involved holds a leadership position.
‘What worries me most is that this sergeant is in a leadership role — modelling this behaviour to junior staff. It perpetuates a culture of racism and violence towards our people.’
ATSIEB is calling for urgent, concrete actions to hold officers accountable and to reform the systems that continue to harm Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
‘The community and our families are fed up with the racism, racial profiling, and the continued violation of our human rights,’ said Ms McLeod.
‘I urge the ACT Chief of Police, Mr Lee, to consider the saying “a fish rots from the head down”. This is a leadership problem, and it demands a leadership response.’
ATSIEB fully supports the Commissioner and stands with the broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. This is an urgent call for justice, accountability, and a culturally safe and respectful system.
