Justice

The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory Report has been released following months of inquiring into the failings of the child protection and youth detention systems in the Northern Territory.

Few who saw the images could forget the trigger for the establishment of the Royal Commission on Four Corners - Aboriginal child Dylan Voller hooded and shackled to a chair in Don Dale Detention Centre in Darwin.

Three years ago tomorrow, a 22 year old Aboriginal woman with her whole life ahead of her - Ms Dhu, died in a Western Australian Police lock up from a fatal infection stemming from a cracked rib arising from a family violence injury.

Ms Dhu had been locked up for unpaid fines for three days, and as the WA Coroner found, had been treated inhumanely by police. This tragic death was inhumane, avoidable and preventable.    

ANTaR, national advocacy organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, today called on all governments to listen to First Peoples in order to address crisis levels of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. 

National Campaigns Manager, Ms Jane Powles said that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have been calling for the implementation of Justice Reinvestment since 2009 to address high incarceration rates.” 

“It's about time governments started to listen” 

ANTaR, national advocacy organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, today called for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth incarceration across the country to become a priority for the Federal Government.