Two Victorian police officers have been charged with assault after allegedly using a Taser and a knee to strike an Aboriginal man last year.
Wade, who is represented by the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS), was allegedly "unlawfully struck" by a Senior Constable, according to an investigation — titled Operation Ginkgo — by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC).
"They have been charged with aggravated assault with a weapon," IBAC said in a statement.
Furthermore, a Sergeant is alleged to have "unlawfully struck the man to the head with their knee" and has been "charged with unlawful assault".
Both officers remain on duty, Victoria Police has said, and both expected to appear before Ringwood Magistrates' Court on September 11.
In a statement on Friday, VALS said its Wirraway Police and Prison Accountability Practice will be representing Wade as "we pursue civil damages from Victoria Police for the harm caused".
Of the alleged attack, Wade said: "I remember feeling a police officer's knee pressed into the back of my neck while face down on the ground."
He said that since it had been almost a year since his arrest, without any charges, "I thought that what happened to me was how everyone got treated."
"I am thankful for the bodycam footage from that night," Wade said in a statement provided by VALS. "It's always their word against yours, and if those cameras weren't recording, I don't even want to think about what they could have done to me.
"The police aren't above the law, they put me in hospital and need to be held to account for this. I support IBAC's investigation and welcome these charges. I just hope these officers take accountability for what they [allegedly] did to me."
VALS chief executive Nerita Waight said the organisation welcomed IBAC's determination "as we know our client deserves justice and accountability for the harms he suffered".
She said the decision to allow both officers to remain on duty is an "abhorrent example of abuse of power and lack of accountability".
"We know Wade is not alone in his experience, and sadly we have represented families who have lost loved ones in police custody," she said. "How many more times do our people have to suffer for this government to act and establish an independent police oversight body immediately?"
While IBAC is responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of complaints it is required to investigate involving police, recently released data shows it investigated only 2 per cent of all complaints it received involving police in the previous 12 months.
New Premier Ben Carroll has committed to strengthening IBAC's corruption powers; however, he has not committed to the long-called-for request to strengthen the commission's police oversight role.
Writing in The Age, Nadia Morales, chief executive of Inner Melbourne Community Legal, who runs the Police Accountability Project, said: "People who face serious, even life-threatening injuries, because of police misconduct, should not have their complaints treated as second-order issues.
"An effective and just democratic society needs to treat both corruption and police misconduct seriously. The two issues should not be put in competition with each other."
VALS said it was continuing to call for an independent police oversight body that handles complaints of police misconduct in a timely and culturally safe way.
"Police have been getting away with their abhorrent and dangerous behaviour for far too long and Aboriginal communities continue to be unfairly targeted by this," the statement read.
