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Clarity urged on Indigenous custody deaths

Hannah RyanAAP
Greens MP David Shoebridge says the public should have been notified about two deaths in custody.
Camera IconGreens MP David Shoebridge says the public should have been notified about two deaths in custody.

The Aboriginal Legal Service is calling for more transparency after revelations that two Indigenous people died in custody in NSW in the past week.

The deaths only came to light when a bureaucrat was questioned in a parliamentary hearing.

An Indigenous man in his mid-30s died last Tuesday at Long Bay Hospital, which treats NSW prisoners. Authorities believe his death was "natural" and that he had "multiple" medical issues.

"It was identified by Health and by our staff supervising him when he actually was unresponsive and then obviously support was immediately provided," Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin told a Budget Estimates session on Tuesday.

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An Indigenous woman in her mid-50s died in her cell at Silverwater Women's Prison three days later. Mr Severin said it's believed she took her own life.

Both deaths will be referred to the coroner.

The NSW government did not notify the public or the media of the deaths, with the latter only revealed during questioning by Greens MP David Shoebridge at a budget estimates hearing.

The government does not publicise deaths in custody, Mr Severin said.

It is "not appropriate" to advise the public of deaths without any detail and "cause a lot of anger, a lot of angst and a lot of grief".

"We won't put public statements out," he said. "That is not in any way to suggest that we are not 100 per cent accountable."

Karly Warner, CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT, called for greater transparency and "real accountability".

"The NSW Government has an obligation to let people know things that are in the public interest, and this includes when there has been a death in their care," Ms Warner said in a statement.

She suggested corrective services and police could release basic details like the date and location of the death and the person's age, gender and Aboriginality.

The government does inform the Aboriginal Legal Service and Department of Aboriginal Affairs of Indigenous deaths in custody, Mr Severin said.

Mr Shoebridge criticised the failure to notify the public.

"Two First Nations deaths in a single week is devastating and the government's new policy of secrecy only adds to the growing concern about First Nations deaths in custody," he said in a statement.

"The government's response to the Black Lives Matter movement has not been to address deaths in custody but to hide them from public scrutiny."

The woman was held in a cell with hanging points after a self-harm risk assessment did not identify her as high risk.

Mr Severin said that if prisoners are identified as high risk they are not held alone in cells with hanging points.

He conceded there was no dedicated budget for removing ligature points, but said a scheme to remove them is funded through a minor works program.

Hanging points were identified as a risk in the 1991 report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody.

"Now thirty years after the Royal Commission it is astounding that First Nations inmates are being placed in cells with known hanging points," Mr Shoebridge said.

Ms Warner said recommendations of the royal commission and coronial inquests need to be implemented.

"It is well past time for real accountability," Ms Warner said.

"People within these systems who act negligently or maliciously must face consequences, both professional and criminal as appropriate, for their actions."

Of the 24 deaths in custody in NSW since July 1, 2020, four were Indigenous. Three of the 24 were categorised as unnatural.

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