Do Indigenous Australians face discrimination in the legal system?
In 1987, Australia’s Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced the establishment of a Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody to investigate the deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who had died in custody since 1980. The inquiry was established in large part due to the public education and lobbying efforts of the National Committee to Defend Black Rights, the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee, family members of people who had died in custody, and many civil rights supporters across the country. The final report of the Royal Commission was released in May 1991 and contained 339 recommendations to deal with the serious over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in police and prison custody. In addition to looking into the investigation, arrest and sentencing practices within the criminal justice system, the Commission also considered the broader factors underlying the high rates of incarceration, such as cultural, political, lega
