07-05-2025
Bereaved mothers seek answers as they welcome proposed inquiry into treatment of Indigenous detainees
Narelle King, whose son
Ms King has decried a lack of answers for bereaved mothers.
"To this day, I don't know what happened to my son, but every day I find the courage to fight for him,"
Ms King said.
"It's been nine years since my son passed away at [the Alexander Maconochie Centre], but today, I just feel like he is with me," she said after watching the debate in the assembly.
Ms King was scathing of the jail's treatment of her son and other Indigenous inmates who have similarly died in custody.
"It's not acceptable for any mother to hear that sort of news," she said, slamming the facility.
"
They don't care about our boys.
"
The ACT government on Wednesday backed a proposal to establish an independent inquiry into the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees at Canberra's jail.
There has been a number of recent deaths of Indigenous detainees — including two within four days in February.
Independent MLA Thomas Emerson brought the motion to the assembly calling for a board of inquiry into the deaths in custody.
"It should not be the case in a progressive jurisdiction, with human rights legislation, that people are dying in prison and we don't hear why or how that is happening,"
Mr Emerson said.
'Deeply sorry'
Corrections Minister Marisa Patterson outside the ACT Legislative Assembly.
(
ABC News: Harry Frost
)
Corrections Minister Marisa Paterson told the assembly the government will consult on what a proposed board of inquiry should look like once an "imminent" review of over-representation of Indigenous people in the justice system is completed later this year.
"I want to put strongly on the record: To all the families — non-indigenous and indigenous — who have died in the custody of the [Alexander Maconochie Centre] since it opened, I am deeply sorry,"
she said.
"We know we can do better."
She said she planned to ask the ACT coroner to expedite relevant coronial inquiries currently underway.
"And then we can progress to a board of inquiry."
'More than alarm bells'
Bundjalung and Yorta Yorta man Joe Hedger supports a board of inquiry.
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ABC News: Harry Frost
)
Bundjalung and Yorta Yorta man Joe Hedger is a local advocate and said the inquiry should not be "to point fingers but to get to the bottom of what's not working in the prison."
He said three deaths in custody within a six-month period have left the community reeling.
"That's more than alarm bells, that's a tragic circumstance, particularly for the families,"
Mr Hedger said.
"I think what we consistently hear is that there is a high degree of boredom for a lot of Aboriginal people who go into AMC, and we know that part of dealing with that boredom is the drugs … we need to make sure that we provide programs … and [help] to transition out of AMC," he said.
Distressing stories spur motion
Mr Emerson said he was spurred into action after hearing troubling claims of what has gone on within the prison.
"I'm hearing stories about people melting down nicotine patches and injecting them because of the tobacco ban in prison. It's really alarming,"
he said.
"[I'm told] there are needles being shared for 12 months at a time. There's huge rates of hepatitis in the AMC.
"That just doesn't meet community expectations. Action is needed.
"And If we can get culturally appropriate detainment right for Indigenous people in the AMC, that's going to translate to other detainees as well."
