Deaths in custody remembered as protesters urge change
Families of those who died in custody braved the rain to tell their stories and cry out for change.
Wearing shirts emblazoned with the faces of their loved ones, they marked the National Day of Action against Black Deaths in Custody at Sydney City Hall on Saturday.
Kylie Aloua, whose son Jai Wright was killed when his dirt bike collided with an unmarked police car, stood with protesters carrying posters saying “no justice, no peace” as others took to the stage.
The crowd heard from Vickey Fernando, whose partner Stanley Russell was fatally shot by police in 2021, Stolen Generation descendant Gloria Duffin and others.
David Dungay Jr’s nephew, Paul Silva, has spent his life advocating for change and justice since his uncle died after being restrained by police in 2015.
His death is one of more than 600 since then. 1991 Royal Commission Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Mr Silva said that during this time there had been numerous reports, recommendations made to various governments and apologies to police forces and corrections officers, but lives continued to be taken by a system that had repeatedly failed Aboriginal people.
“I, my family and many other families have been calling out to this system and unfortunately it has fallen on deaf ears and blind eyes,” the Dunghutti man told AAP.
NSW has recorded the most Aboriginal deaths in custody in a year of any state or territory, prompting Mr Silva to launch the protest.
This grim milestone should deeply alarm everyone in the state, coroner Theresa O’Sullivan said in an open letter published in October.
He said twelve Indigenous people had died in the care of correctional services in NSW since January, but it was not a state-specific problem.
On Monday, 21-year-old Wiradjuri woman Chelsea Bracken died in hospital following a “medical crisis” while in custody at Tasmania’s Mary Hutchinson Prison for Women.
“They are destroying our people,” Mr. Silva said.
“Despite everything we have seen and said, the number of people dying in custody is higher than ever.
“This isn’t just failure. This is still a system built on racism and control.”
Although the rally was held in Sydney, Mr Silva said organizers stood in solidarity with every family who had lost loved ones in custody.
He said incarceration rates across Australia had remained stable since 1991 or had risen further, driven by reforms to bail laws, policing, the cost of living and homelessness crises.
“These people are not statistics,” Mr. Silva said.
“They are family members, brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts.”
As well as highlighting the shocking number of deaths in custody, Mr Silva also wants the remaining recommendations of the 1991 inquiry to be implemented.
This includes the establishment of an independent Aboriginal-led body to investigate deaths in custody; continued funding for Aboriginal legal services; 24-hour access to medical and mental health services in custody; and compensation to families who lost loved ones.
“These are not demands, these are not demands, these are a mother crying for change,” Mr. Silva said.
“They are mine, a nephew, a brother, a cousin, and I cry asking questions about what change we can make so that the next black hail doesn’t result in a statistic, so that the next family doesn’t have to sit through a court hearing where they are shown video footage of their loved one being treated inhumanely.”
A rally was also held in the northern NSW town of Lismore on Saturday morning.
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