The family of Kumanjayi Walker say they are "exhausted" after the conclusion of the three-year inquest into his death, and "disappointed" that the coroner made no recommendations to hold the Northern Territory Police accountable for what they describe as "racism, violence and deaths".
Kumanjayi Walker, a 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man, was shot three times by then-police officer Zachary Rolfe during a failed arrest attempt in Yuendumu, about 300 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs. Mr Rolfe was acquitted of murder and manslaughter in a high-profile Supreme Court trial in 2022.
On Monday, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage delivered her findings in Australia's longest-running coronial inquest. She concluded Mr Walker's death was "avoidable", that Mr Rolfe's attitudes may have contributed to the fatal outcome, and that the NT Police Force displayed "significant hallmarks of institutional racism".
Mr Walker's kinship mother, Leanne Oldfield, said the process had been long and exhausting.
"I want to see a good future for the young people," she said. "Thank you to our lawyers and everyone who has helped us. It really touched me."
Ms Oldfield called for the reinstatement of community programs such as the Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation — which was recently de-funded by the Central Land Council — saying: "We need to focus on the young people. It is time for a change."
View this post on Instagram
Mr Walker's cousin, Samara Fernandez-Brown, described the journey as "exhausting and heartbreaking", but said the Yuendumu community was now focused on moving forward.
"I am so unbelievably proud of my family and community," she said.
"They have been so strong in the face of such heartbreak. They have guided me, trusted me, and nurtured me on this exhausting fight. I hope they know how proud they should be. How proud Kumanjayi would be of them."
On Monday, Judge Armitage said Mr Rolfe's racist behaviour — including text messages to colleagues at the Alice Springs police station — were not "mere aberrations," but rather, in part, "reflective of a work culture that tolerated racism".
"Having considered all the evidence, including Mr Rolfe's explanations and justifications, I found that Mr Rolfe was racist and that he worked in, and was the beneficiary of, an organisation with hallmarks of institutional racism," she said.
In response, Ms Fernandez-Brown said: "To hear the Coroner identify structural and entrenched racism in the NT Police has made us feel validated. Our family and community have always felt that racism killed Kumanjayi."
Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, whose jaja Kumanjayi White recently died in police custody, has been outspoken in his calls for change around policing and their treatment of Indigenous people. He said the community needs more than words.
"The Coroner talked about racism in the Northern Territory, she has told the truth," Mr Hargraves said.
"We have come so close to justice so many times, only to have people in our family and community killed. The NT Police continue to harm our community, we need a ceasefire.
"Our people have the solutions; we need to take back our rights to run our community and to have peace."
View this post on Instagram
The family welcomed recommendations from the coroner promoting community control and cultural authority, arguing they "validate the Yapa-run solutions that our family and our community have been urging for years".
"We have consistently demonstrated vision, resilience, and deep knowledge of what is best for our people. Guided by our cultural wisdom and collective strength, we have put forward solutions that are grounded in what makes us strong," the Walker family said.
"These measures are not only about keeping Yuendumu safe, but also about ensuring our right to self-determination. When we are able to shape our futures and govern our own communities, our people are stronger, our outcomes improve, and our culture flourishes."
Still, the family criticised the lack of accountability in the coroner's findings. None of the 32 recommendations included a call for an independent police ombudsman — a key demand from both the Walker family and Aboriginal legal services.
"Without this accountability, our community will continue to be failed, the NT Police will continue their unchecked, excessive use of force and our people will continue to die at their hands. For this we are disappointed," the family said.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by National Indigenous Times (@natindigtimes)
Maggie Munn, First Nations Director at the Human Rights Law Centre, echoed that concern.
"Governments must end the status quo of police investigating themselves and dodging accountability for their actions," they said, referencing the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
"As long as the Finocchiaro Government allows police to act with impunity, racism will remain unchecked within institutions like the NT Police and Aboriginal deaths in custody will continue."
Speaking to the media this week, Acting NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole accepted the cultural issues raised during the inquest were of great concern, and promised change.
"I acknowledge that all forms of racism have existed within the NT Police Force at various times, and that this was borne out in the evidence received during this inquest," he said.
"What was tolerated in the past will no longer be acceptable. We are committed to stamping out racism in all its forms and making this a safer, fairer organisation for everybody."
Mr Dole did not commit to adopting any of the 18 recommendations specifically directed at NT Police but said they would be considered "properly, thoroughly and with the seriousness that they warrant."
The Walker family said their calls remain clear: an end to police violence, guns in communities, racially discriminatory policing, and a shift away from prisons and punitive systems.
They also called for a reckoning with the NT's mass incarceration crisis, which has seen a dramatic rise in Aboriginal imprisonment.
"Our fight for justice does not end here. We will continue to demand change because no family or community should ever go through what we've experienced," they said.
"We demand accountability and justice, and we will continue to fight until our people are safe."
