The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner has called for a ban on police officers carrying guns in Indigenous communities.
The Commissioner, June Oscar made the plea following the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu in the Northern Territory during an attempted arrest.
Commissioner Oscar (pictured) also called for Aboriginal elders and Indigenous liaison officers to hold decision-making positions in policing matters and for substantial investments in community wrap-around support and trauma-informed responses.
She said there had been more than 500 Indigenous deaths in custody since the Royal Commission and several recent police shootings of First Nations people.
“This underlines the need for immediate action,” Commissioner Oscar said.
She said in addition to the deaths of Mr Walker and Joyce Clarke, a Yamatji woman who was shot by police, a young Indigenous man was currently in a critical condition after being shot six times by a police officer near Darwin.
“Mass incarceration and the deaths of First Nations people when in contact with the justice system must end,” Commissioner Oscar said.
“For 30 years we have urged Australian Governments to implement all recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.”
She said the mass incarceration and over-policing of First Nations people was driven by systemic and structural problems within the justice system and beyond it.
“Until this changes — until we see significant systemic shifts and investment in the security and health of our communities — the grave injustice of Indigenous deaths will continue,” Commissioner Oscar said.
