Hundreds of people gathered at rallies and protests around Australia ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
An Aboriginal group says it wants answers over the lack of accountability and justice for the 470 people who have died in custody in the last 30 years. (file pic) Photo: AFP
More than 470 Aboriginal people have died in custody since the commission's final report was handed down on 15 April 1991.
The report made 339 recommendations but few have been implemented over the past 30 years.
Five Aboriginal people have died in custody since the beginning of March this year.
Protests and marches took place in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Alice Springs and Lismore today.
In other cities, like Perth and Adelaide, rallies have been organised for Thursday, the exact date of the final report's 30th anniversary.
In Queensland, about 300 people gathered at King George Square in Brisbane's city centre.
Several Indigenous speakers made emotional speeches before crowds marched through Brisbane's streets to the police watch house.
Protesters also lit a fire outside the police headquarters, where a smoking ceremony took place.
Relatives of late Indigenous woman Aunty Sherry Tilberoo spoke at the rally, expressing their frustrations at the inaction of governments when it comes to Black deaths in custody.
The 49-year-old was found dead in her cell at the Brisbane watch house in September last year after she was not checked on for six hours, sparking protests and the suspension of an assistant watch house officer.
"We shouldn't have to stand here in these T-shirts with her name on it, but we are," a woman speaking on behalf of the family said.
"As a family we shouldn't have to suffer the grief, the pain.
"How is this still happening in 2021? Who can answer these questions that all the families are seeking? It's not right - enough is enough."
Other speakers included Aunty Sherry's nephew Troy Brady, who voiced his concerns over the treatment of Indigenous people in custody.
On a cold, wet day in Melbourne, a few hundred people gathered on the steps of Victoria's Parliament House.
NATSILS, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, has called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to meet with the families of people who have died.
"Almost 30 years … since the royal commission, no police officer or authority has been convicted for black deaths in custody," NATSILS said in a statement.
"Our people continue to die at horrific rates. There is no accountability and no justice.
"We call on the prime minister to meet us face to face on the 30-year anniversary to hear our stories, to see our pain - but most of all, we want answers."
Violence 'pandemic against our people'
In Sydney, hundreds of people gathered at Town Hall and marched through the city on Gadigal land to demand change.
Organiser Lizzie Jarrett said she felt devastated after more black deaths in custody since early March.
"Five deaths in five weeks, if that is not telling you that this is a pandemic against our people," she said.
Activist Bruce Shillingsworth said the government needed to do more.
"It's time now that we make a stand with our non-Indigenous brothers and sisters not just here but across the world," he said.
"I believe we need to send a message and make our government and those people, that are doing these wrongs, accountable."
Actor, artist and writer Meyne Wyatt, who was also at the Sydney rally, said Aboriginal deaths in custody needed to stop.
"This is going to continue happening, and seeing us as sub-human; it's an ongoing thing," he said.
-ABC