Miss Yunupingu domestic violence inquest to explore ‘revolving door’ of abusers in prison

A young woman was condemned to a life of ‘ongoing torture’, with a coronial detailing more than a decade of abuse by the man she loved. Read what was heard in the inquest.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the names and image of Indigenous people who have passed, used with the permission of their families.

A young woman was condemned to a life of “ongoing torture” by the man she loved and the systems meant to protect her, a coronial inquiry has heard.

An inquest into the killing of 29-year-old Yolngu woman, Miss Yunupingu, is expected to hear how the “revolving door” of the Territory’s prisons continues to leave domestic violence victims at the mercy of abusers.

On Monday, counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer said the Yirrkala-born woman suffered more than a decade of torment at the hands of her husband and killer, Neil Marika.

“Why did this beautiful and gentle woman suffer so much violence for over a decade leading up to her passing away at the age of 29?” Dr Dwyer asked.

“The level of constant abuse that Miss Yunupingu suffered for 13 years of her life and in her brutal death in October, 2018 was nothing less than a form of torture.”

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage with her counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer mid-way through Australia’s largest ever coronial inquries into domestic violence. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Dr Dwyer said there were 22 incidents where Miss Yunupingu was in contact with police as a victim of domestic violence, numerous hospital records chronicling her injuries from suspected bashings, and a family violence safety assessment which found she was at “high risk” of serious injury or death.

Yet seven months before she was killed Miss Yunupingu was removed from the Family Safety Framework, the Territory’s action based integrated service response for domestic violence.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage heard the violence started when she was just 14, with medical clinic records from 2004 noting her boyfriend hit her with a stick.

Less than two years later the emergency department of Gove Hospital would be fighting to save the 16-year-old’s life after her lung collapsed after being bashed with an aluminium bin lid.

Looking down on the A4 sheet of medical and clinical notes detailing her 13-years of abuse, Dr Dwyer said she felt “weighed down by the brutality and the relentless nature of it”.

“And it’s unimaginable that this young woman endured it for that length of time,” Dr Dwyer said.

She said it would have been devastating to the women’s shelters, police, health workers and her own family to see this violence inflicted day after day.

In October 2018, just a month after being released from prison for breaching a domestic violence order, Marika plunged a kitchen knife into Miss Yunupingu’s heart and lung.

Dr Dwyer said due to a plea deal he was sentenced for manslaughter and received a nine year sentence.

The next week of coronial hearings is expected to cast a spotlight on Marika’s new home — the prison system — to see what role Corrections could should have played in preventing Miss Yunupingu’s killing.

Court documents revealed the various assaults and domestic violence breaches before her killing, with Marika sentenced to more than six and a half years — 2442 days in prison.

But Dr Dwyer said he was only offered the same two rehabilitative programs, on repeat, to deal with his “chronic and extremely violent” offending.

“Effectively the same programs that were offered on his previous incarceration, which does not seem to be effective,” Ms Armitage summarised.

Dr Dwyer said this was far from unique, particularly as the prison population continued to break new and bleak records.

“The criminal records of the Northern Territory are full of examples of offenders — mostly men … who commit serious acts of violence and are released and are violent again to the same woman or the next one they form a relationship with,” Dr Dwyer said.

“It’s obvious that jail itself does not seem to act as an effective deterrent for many of these men.”

Dr Dwyer said the coronial would assess what services were there to change the behaviour of abusive men while in prison, and to supervise their release.

“What are Corrections doing now in custody to make sure this doesn’t happen again with another woman?” she asked.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage’s coronial into domestic violence is expected to explore issues in services ranging from police to women’s shelters, Territory Families to the prison system.

Dr Dwyer said this was a question every Australian should be interested in answering.

“Domestic violence is a crime and a human scourge across the entire world,” she said.

“(But) the levels of domestic violence in the Northern Territory are a national shame and national tragedy.”

She said Territory women were seven times more likely to be killed than the average Australian, with Indigenous women in the NT killed at a rate 13 times higher than their non-Indigenous sisters.

Dr Dwyer said initial evidence suggested an urgent call for needs-based funding, and for Aboriginal and remote-led solutions for the chronic rates of violence.

Ms Armitage agreed, saying not only would this protect the women and children trapped in cycles of violence, but the men lost to the revolving doors of imprisonment.

The hearing continues on Tuesday.