STATEMENT FROM INDEPENDENT MEMBER FOR KURRAJONG, THOMAS EMERSON MLA

I welcome the ACT Government’s announcement of Mr Joshua Creamer as Board Chair for the Board of Inquiry into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Deaths in Custody secured through my Assembly motion back in May 2025.

Although some community members will be frustrated that the start date is almost two years after my motion passed, I’m pleased the Government has allocated significant resourcing to this inquiry.

This comes after many years of pressure from family members who’ve lost loved ones in the AMC and from relentless First Nations community advocates including Julie Tongs and Joe Hedger, who’ve fought for scrutiny and justice on their behalf.

An in-depth, independent, well-resourced, and culturally safe investigation into the treatment of First Nations people in the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) is long overdue.

Despite claiming to be Australia’s most progressive jurisdiction, the ACT has the largest Indigenous incarceration gap in the country. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans are 25.4 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Indigenous Canberrans.

It's deplorable that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans with kin in the AMC have to worry about whether or not their loved ones will make it out alive. 

With powers similar to a Royal Commission, this Board of Inquiry offers an opportunity to uncover what’s really happening in the AMC and demand serious systemic reform.

END STATEMENT 

MEDIA CONTACT: Will Devine | 0402 183 296  |  [email protected]

BACKGROUND: 

Following the deaths of three Aboriginal detainees within a six-month period, and a strong community-led campaign from Julie Tongs, Joe Hedger and some of the affected families, Mr Emerson successfully brought a motion to the Legislative Assembly in May 2025 calling on the ACT Government to launch a Board of Inquiry into systemic issues for First Nations detainees in Canberra’s prison. You can find the motion that passed here.

You can find the terms of reference for the Board of Inquiry here.