When children are denied bail, they’re often taken to police watch houses. But these don’t have the staff or facilities to keep children safe and well.
Articles on Deaths in custody
Displaying 1 - 20 of 24 articles
Novelist Alexis Wright has described Lionel Fogarty as Aboriginal literature’s ‘poet laureate’. His was a life of energy, art, yarning, poetry and politics.
A new report shows 33 of the 113 deaths in custody in 2024–25 were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. It’s the highest number in 40 years.
Indigenous people are again grieving the deaths of loved ones in custody. Would they have occurred if the royal commission recommendations had been fully implemented?
Archie Moore is the first Australian to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, given to the best national pavilion at the world’s oldest and most renowned art biennale.
People with mental health challenges are more likely to die in custody. The coroner’s inquest into the death of Soleiman Faqiri in an Ontario jail is one such tragedy that calls out for reform.
Poccum’s Law provides a best practice, evidence-based model for bail reform which would have prevented Veronica Nelson’s death in custody.
Care leavers are over-represented in the justice system. Rising rates of self-harm show an urgent need for greater mental health support.
There are signs Australian police have moved away from community service towards more enforcement – this is a troubling development.
In the wake of four Aboriginal deaths in custody in three weeks, the government needs to reassess the police and corrections systems in Australia.
Warlpiri people in Yuendumu have been strident in their demands for justice for Walker and protections from ongoing police violence.
The case of an African-American sailor who arrived in Melbourne in 1887 illustrates the long history of excessive punishment of Black bodies.
It’s a tragedy that hundreds have died because the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody were not implemented fully.
Tanya Day, Ms Dhu and Rebecca Maher are among the 400 people who have died in custody more than 25 years since the Royal Commission. How could those deaths have been avoided?
A visiting scheme envisaged to deter police misconduct in custody is not fit for purpose.
Cabinet papers reveal the extent to which the Keating government was torn between concern for fiscal responsibility and a desire to tackle Indigenous disadvantage and pursue meaningful reconciliation.
New research suggests 400 people have died from suspected suicide within 48 hours of leaving police detention in the last seven years.
The statistics used to discuss deaths in custody can make us lose sight of the fact that it’s people we’re talking about. People with families and friends, who died prematurely – and often brutally.
Accountability for the deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at the hands of the state remains absent 25 years after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody’s report.
In the 25 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, we’ve gone backwards.
Top contributors
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Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Fellow Indigenous Programs, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Researcher, Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology Sydney
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Reader in Criminal and Penal Justice; Master, Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
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Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Deputy Director, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge
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The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer, UTS Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Social Research and Policy, UNSW
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Professor of Climate Justice, Queen Mary University of London
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Lecturer, The University of Melbourne
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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PhD Candidate, University of Technology Sydney
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Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney
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Visiting Scholar, Criminal Justice, University of Birmingham
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Professor of Law, University of British Columbia