It's an "extraordinary avoidance of responsibility" for the federal Attorney-General's Department to claim that shackling women during childbirth is the responsibility of the Health Department, the Greens' leader says, days after a photo emerged showing a 16-year-old chained to a bed at a major hospital.
The comments from David Shoebridge during Senate Estimates on Monday come after the two major political parties teamed up to block bills introduced by Senator Lidia Thorpe calling for a ban on shackling women during childbirth and strip-searching children.
A Senate inquiry recommended rejecting a bill, with the Government arguing that responsibility for the criminal justice system rests predominantly with state and territory governments. The Coalition said that while it "understands the intent" of the bill, it would not support it either.
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On Monday, Senator Thorpe said that since the decision not to pass the bills, "A number of cases have since been reported that continue to shackle Aboriginal women and girls in hospital," asking, "What steps is the government taking to meet the [Senate] committee's recommendations?"
In response, the Department said the "particular issue of shackling was raised in a review that the Department of Health commissioned a couple of years ago," with the Health Minister "working with his state and territory counterparts".
"Probably detailed questions should go to the Department of Health," Esther Bogaart from the department said.
The federal Health Minister, she added, is "working with his counterparts on a range of issues that arose in that report — including this particular matter — and working with those state and territory health ministers who are responsible, along with their corrections ministers for preventing and stopping these practices".
Last week, National Indigenous Times reported on the case of a 16-year-old Noongar mother who was shackled to a hospital bed after allegedly being taken "from her home without a top on and handled roughly by police".
The girl was charged with a number of alleged offences following the confrontation and shackled to a hospital bed. WA Police told this publication the chains depicted were not equipment used by the WA Police Force. Police also stated that the teenager was not in police custody at the time the image was taken.
The disturbing images of the teenager and the alleged treatment, described by advocates as "disgraceful" and a reflection of the "broader concerns about policing experienced by Aboriginal people", followed reports in Guardian Australia of an incarcerated pregnant Indigenous woman in Queensland who was allegedly shackled to a hospital bed while she was in labour.
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At Estimates, Senator Shoebridge said the Department's response was an "extraordinary avoidance of responsibility".
"The shackles, the handcuffs, are not put on by health officials," he said.
"In fact, it's my understanding that the shackling of women while they're giving birth is almost universally opposed by health officials, by the nurses, the doctors, anyone in that room.
"The shackles [and] the handcuffs are put on by the carceral system, by police and prison officers, and it's your department that's responsible for coordinating this at a national level, not the health department."
The newly minted Greens leader asked the Department whether it was "leading a discussion amongst Attorney-Generals across this country to prevent women being shackled to their beds by handcuffs while they're giving birth to their children?"
In response, the Department reiterated that it is a "disturbing practice," but one that falls under the remit of states and territories.
"They run the correction systems, and it's their state police forces," said Secretary of the Department, Katherine Jones.
"It's not, as far as I'm aware, federal police associated with this."
Additional reporting by Phoebe Solon
