In short:
The Northern Territory’s anti-discrimination commissioner is supporting calls for an independent review into systemic racism in the NT Police Force.
Aboriginal land councils have criticised the findings of an Independent Commissioner Against Corruption and NT Police investigation which found no evidence of racist behaviour in the force since 2015.
What’s next?
The NT government says an anti-racism strategy has been underway since June and is set to be implemented by NT Police early next year.
Calls from a major Northern Territory land council for an independent review into systemic racism in the NT Police Force have been backed by the territory’s anti-discrimination commissioner.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Last month, an NT Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) and NT Police joint investigation into racism within the force handed down its final report, which drew criticism from legal experts.
The probe, which previously uncovered racist awards deemed too “offensive” for public release, found no further evidence of racist behaviour in the force since 2015 and closed the matter.
The Central Land Council (CLC) released a statement last Thursday criticising the findings for not reflecting the racism experienced by Aboriginal people.
“There is no Aboriginal Territorian alive who has not witnessed or experienced racist acts by the police,” CLC chair Warren Japanangka Williams said.
“We need a truly independent review that does not cast doubt on our lived experience.
“Truth-telling is the first step towards an anti-racist system.”
The ICAC review was prompted by allegations of racist awards handed out among members of NT Police’s Territory Response Group (TRG), which emerged earlier this year during the coronial inquest into the 2019 police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.
Mr Williams said urgent action was needed to combat entrenched racism in the police force.
“We need to abolish what’s been happening in the past,” the Warlpiri man said.
“The government needs to step in and address this issue.”
‘Funding for failure’
NT Anti-discrimination Commissioner Jeswynn Yogaratnam has backed calls for an independent review.
Jeswynn Yogaratnam says an independent oversight team is needed. (ABC News)normal
He argued lack of funding for oversight measures was stalling progress in tackling systemic racism in NT Police.
“Aside from the recent ICAC review which probably was problematic in itself … a lot of the other reviews were done internally, either within police or other government agencies,” he said.
“There has already been knowledge of racism within the police, so the question is why was it not picked up earlier and how was it dealt with prior to these incidents?”
He said he had been pushing for resources for an independent team that could work with police to implement anti-racist strategies.
“Otherwise, it will be another funding for failure and we’re going to disappoint community again,” he said.
“Racism can lead towards community safety issues.”
The Northern Land Council (NLC) released a statement in November in response to the NT ICAC report’s findings and said systemic racism “is not just a relic of the past”.
“ICAC coming out and saying racism has not been a problem in the last decade, just makes everyone have even less trust in the systems,” NLC chair Matthew Ryan said.
“It goes against what the NLC hears from our people on the ground.”
‘Significant reform’ underway
NT Police Assistant Commissioner Michael White said the force was taking steps to remedy historical racist behaviour.
Michael White says NT police officers are receiving anti-racism training. (ABC Alice Springs: Steven Schubert)normal
“It is acknowledged certainly that in the past NT Police has not treated people fairly as has been highlighted and we continue to improve our processes,” he said.
“We are receiving training in relation to anti-racism to understand better the idiosyncrasies sometimes of what we do.”
In a statement, an NT government spokesperson said significant reform was underway and would include an anti-racism strategy to be implemented early next year by NT Police.
The work is being led by former lawyer and police officer Leanne Liddle who was appointed in July to a new role within the force to combat racism.
The government spokesperson said the strategy included anti-racism workshops for “key staff” and stationing Aboriginal language speakers at the triple-0 call centre in Darwin.
“In collaboration with the Anti-Discrimination Commission, anti-discrimination training has been embedded for all new recruits to the NT Police Force,” the spokesperson said.
“The NT Police Force is actively working to achieve a 30 per cent representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff across all areas.”
