Labor push for Custody Notification Service to stop Aboriginal jail deaths
A bipartisan approach to stopping Aboriginal deaths in custody is needed, SA’s opposition says, as it launches a push for a notification system to boost access to legal and welfare support.
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The South Australian opposition will push for a Custody Notification Service to help prevent further Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Opposition Aboriginal Affairs spokesman Kyam Maher is seeking government support for the move which would ensure the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement is notified any time an indigenous person is taken into custody.
“These matters require a bipartisan approach and a strong commitment from the government to want to change the tragic record for Aboriginal people,” Mr Maher said on Thursday.
A CNS was one of the 339 recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody almost 30 years ago.
It would ensure detainees were provided with culturally appropriate health and welfare support and basic legal advice.
Such a service has been operating in NSW since 2000 and there has been only one Aboriginal death in a police cell since, Mr Maher said.
He said that death occurred when the requirements of the CNS were not followed. “For too long this has been put in the too-hard basket. This must stop. It is incumbent on us all to do more to effect change.
“A Custody Notification Service in every state and territory was a recommendation from the royal commission and has proven to save Aboriginal lives in New South Wales.” Mr Maher said Labor would introduce legislation for the CNS and had written to Premier Steven Marshall seeking the government’s backing.
