Independent MLA Thomas Emerson will bring a motion to the ACT Legislative Assembly this week backing community calls for the ACT Government to launch a Board of Inquiry into the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Canberra’s prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC).

Following the recent deaths of three Aboriginal detainees within a six-month period, Mr Emerson said systemic action was needed to address the escalating rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dying in custody.

“It’s time for a targeted examination of why First Nations people continue to die in our prison,” said Mr Emerson.

“We need a Board of Inquiry to unearth and lay bare the harsh reality of what’s really happening in the AMC.

“We’re failing some of our city’s most marginalised people. Worse than that, we’re letting them die in a place that’s supposed to rehabilitate them. Community members deserve a real commitment from our government to bring about the systemic change needed to save lives in our prison. 

“It’s morally reprehensible to continue ignoring calls from affected families for accountability and action. A prison sentence should not be a death sentence.”

Following reports of another Aboriginal detainee being hospitalised after a violent assault over the weekend, Wiradjuri woman Julie Tongs OAM, CEO of Winnunga Nimmityjah, has been calling for a Royal Commission-style inquiry into the AMC for many years and said community voices could no longer be ignored by people in positions of power.

“The ACT has the highest rate of increase in the incarceration of Aboriginal men and women in Australia, and the highest rate of Indigenous recidivism,” said Ms Tongs. 

“Compounding these disturbing outcomes is the number of Aboriginal detainees who have died while in the AMC.

“A broad ranging and appropriately funded Board of Inquiry into all aspects of the care and treatment of Aboriginal men and women detained in the AMC is long overdue.”

Bundjalung and Yorta Yorta man Joe Hedger, local Aboriginal community advocate and Founder of Cuz Boxing, has been supporting affected families and said only a Board of Inquiry could offer the transparency and targeted reform required to create real change.

“Families wake each day with a gut-wrenching fear that their loved one won’t make it out of AMC alive,” said Mr Hedger.

“A Board of Inquiry is our chance, not to punish, but to finally face the truth, fix what’s broken and save lives. This is a defining test of leadership. Will the ACT Government choose courage or will they keep letting our people die in silence?”

The motion will be debated on Wednesday afternoon with family members of some of the Aboriginal detainees who have died in custody expected to be in attendance.

See media release from Winnunga here.