This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Greens are demanding Scott Morrison “show leadership” and take urgent action on the continuing high rates of Aboriginal deaths in custody.

In a letter delivered to the prime minister, the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, and the party’s Aboriginal affairs spokeswoman, Senator Rachel Siewert, have demanded “an urgent meeting with the states and territories to develop and commit to an action plan on how both the states and commonwealth will address this issue”.

It comes after Guardian Australia’s Deaths Inside investigation found 407 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since the end of the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody in 1991.

The Greens have said they intend to move a motion in the Senate on Tuesday calling on the government to conduct an “urgent and public audit of the recommendations made by the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody and make it a priority to implement the outstanding recommendations”.

The motion “acknowledges the Guardian Australia’s ‘Deaths Inside’ database, released in August, and their reporting on First Nations peoples deaths in custody”, and expresses “deep concern that there has been no comprehensive monitoring of deaths in custody since the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody”.

Last week, the Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion, told Guardian Australia he ordered a review in 2017 to ensure that all levels of government were held accountable for implementing the royal commission’s 339 recommendations, most of which, according to a 2015 review by Change the Record, have not been fully implemented.

Deaths inside: every Indigenous death in custody since 2008 tracked – interactive Read more

The review, commissioned in December from Deloitte Access Economics, is yet to be completed.

However, the Greens want a “public audit”, such as a parliamentary inquiry.

“The Australian Greens commend and strongly support the Guardian’s work on this database but it shouldn’t be up to them to track deaths in custody,” the letter reads. “Your government should be paying serious and close attention to this matter.

“It has been almost 30 years since the royal commission into deaths in custody and things are not improving. First Nations peoples have been desperate for action for years and years now and they have been systemically ignored, passed over and let down.

“The Australian Greens are appalled that people in prison are not receiving medical attention, which is a basic human right.

“This must be a wake-up call to all members of parliament. I hope that it will be a priority under the Morrison government to ensure that there are no more preventable deaths in custody.

“We urge you to read this data and take urgent action now.”



Quick guide Deaths inside: Guardian Australia’s investigation into 10 years of deaths in custody cases Show Hide Guardian Australia’s investigation into 10 years of deaths in custody cases found serious systemic failings: 407 Indigenous people have died since the end of a royal commission that outlined ways to prevent Indigenous deaths in custody almost 30 years ago.

Indigenous people are dying in custody from treatable medical conditions and are much less likely than non-Indigenous people to receive the care they need.

Agencies such as police watch-houses, prisons and hospitals failed to follow all of their own procedures in 34% of cases where Indigenous people died, compared with 21% of cases for non-Indigenous people.

Mental health or cognitive impairment was a factor in 41% of all deaths in custody. But Indigenous people with a diagnosed mental health condition or cognitive impairment, such as a brain injury or foetal alcohol syndrome disorder, received the care they needed in just 53% of cases.

Families waited up to three years for inquest findings in some states. Each case has been published in an interactive database.

Guardian Australia also found that more than half the 147 Aboriginal people who died in custody over the past decade had not been convicted of any crime.

The Human Rights Law Centre said the number of deaths in custody revealed by Deaths Inside was a “national shame” and called on governments to abolish mandatory sentencing, improve bail laws so Indigenous people were not more likely to be denied bail, and fund culturally appropriate community-based diversion options for low-level offences.

“Every single government in Australia can today choose to cut the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people being forced into prison by wiping these unfair laws from their statute books,” senior lawyer Shahleena Musk said.

Others are calling for a custody notification service (CNS), a 24-hour legal advice and R U OK phone line for Aboriginal people taken into police custody.

Scullion said he offered to fund a national CNS two years ago, and is “disappointed” that Western Australia and the Northern Territory were the only two jurisdictions to take up the offer.

New South Wales, which has had the service since 2000, remains the only jurisdiction to have the legislated obligation in place.

Under NSW law, police must contact the Aboriginal Legal Service as soon as possible whenever an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person is taken into custody for any reason, even if they are not charged with a crime.

The NSW service takes about 15,000 calls a year, and only one Indigenous person has died in police custody since it was implemented 18 years ago.