All seven Commissioners of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have joined forces to call for sweeping reforms in response to the continuing crisis of Indigenous deaths in custody.
The recent deaths of 24-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi White — who had a disability and was living in supported accommodation — and 68-year-old Wadeye Elder TN have prompted national outrage and renewed scrutiny of the justice system.
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, at least 597 First Nations people have died in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC), with 12 of those deaths occurring so far in 2025.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss said governments must "respond genuinely" to their commitments under the Closing the Gap agreement.
"There is an urgent need to invest in prevention to stop people from entering the justice system in the first place," she said.
Despite these commitments, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now account for 36 per cent of Australia's prison population. Over the past two years, multiple jurisdictions have introduced laws that contravene human rights conventions and key recommendations of the Royal Commission — including the Closing the Gap agreement itself.
In Queensland, the government has suspended the state's human rights act three times to allow for the detention of children in adult watch houses. In the Northern Territory, the minimum age of criminal responsibility has been lowered to 10.
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Commissioner Kiss said that during a recent visit to the Northern Territory with Commission President Hugh de Kretser, they heard repeated warnings of a "law and order disaster" for Aboriginal people — a message she says is echoed nationwide.
"Our people are dying in a system that has failed them from the beginning. The need for transformational reform is undeniable," the Kaanju and Birri/Widi woman said.
"Without an evidence and human rights-based approach to justice and corrections, the massive over-representation of our peoples in custody — and dying in custody — will remain a national shame. Enough is enough."
National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds said on Friday she felt "ashamed" of the ongoing injustices inflicted on vulnerable children.
She noted despite overwhelming evidence, incarceration fails to improve community safety — particularly for children experiencing mental and physical health challenges.
"In the space of a 12-month period, we lost two young people while in youth detention in Western Australia," Commissioner Hollonds said.
"Their families are still seeking answers in what has become a heartbreaking pattern across Australia. This is absolutely unacceptable. Children and young people need our care and support."
One of those young people was 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd, who died in October 2023 after being found unresponsive in Unit 18 — a youth wing within a maximum-security adult prison in Perth. The ongoing inquest into his death has exposed critical failings in WA's youth justice system.
Earlier this year, National Indigenous Times reported Commissioner Hollonds was blocked from entering youth prisons in Victoria and Western Australia during a national visit in 2023.
AHRC President Hugh de Kretser also condemned the ongoing lack of justice for First Nations people, particularly in light of the NT Government's refusal to allow an independent investigation into Mr White's death. He argued police have historically been "agents of injustice".
"Since colonisation, justice for First Nations people has too often been found missing in action," he said.
"Reform is critical to build trust, integrity and fairness for First Nations people in our criminal justice system. We need an adequately resourced independent police oversight authority, to investigate all police contact deaths. Successful models exist worldwide, including Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman."
He added: "Australian governments must embrace fair, humane and effective criminal justice laws and policies to end the national disgrace of First Nations deaths in custody. We need Human Rights Acts in all states and territories and nationally to protect the rights of First Nations people."
Commissioner Kiss reiterated the need for structural change, calling for the full implementation of both the 1991 Royal Commission's recommendations and those of the 2023 Disability Royal Commission.
"Over several decades, the Commission has advocated for the establishment of independent entities to investigate police conduct across all jurisdictions," she said.
"RCIADIC clearly established that investigations into police conduct must be independent of police, with transparency throughout and formal complainant support, including legal assistance."
