Aboriginal inmate dies in custody as Black Lives protests rage

One Aboriginal prisoner has died and another is critically ill in hospital after medical emergencies at two West Australian jails.

One Aboriginal prisoner has died and another was critically ill in hospital on Monday after medical emergencies at two West Australian jails.

A 40-year-old indigenous inmate from Acacia Prison, 54km east of Perth, collapsed and died at the weekend as Black Lives Matter rallies across Australia protested indigenous deaths in custody. The man’s death was not considered a suicide and he was not known to have been assaulted before he suffered what authorities believe was a medical episode. An inquiry will determine if the private firm that runs the jail, Serco, responded in a timely and appropriate manner.

On Saturday, an Aboriginal woman raised in the port town of Geraldton in WA’s midwest was taken to hospital from Perth’s Bandyup Prison after an alarm was raised from her cell, possibly by her cellmate. The Australian understands the woman had been confronted earlier by a guard as she lay on the ground with her arm inside a vending machine. So far the WA Justice Department has found no evidence that the guard used “unreasonable force”.

A spokeswoman said the department’s professional standards division attended the women’s prison and was advised that “the prisoner had been found trying to access a vending machine and was ushered back to her cell”.

“The hospitalisation the ­following day appears to be related to an existing medical condition. The investigation continues tomorrow,” the spokeswoman said.

According to the Australian Institute of Criminology’s 2018 report on deaths in custody, death rates of indigenous prisoners have been consistently lower than the death rates of non-indigenous prisoners since the 2003-04 financial year.

However Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people ­remain grossly over-represented in the nation’s jails and the rate at which indigenous people were locked up has increased.

In WA, the McGowan government has committed to divert indigenous people away from jail with a series of reforms including making jail an option of last resort for fine defaulters.