❓ The Attorney General updates the house on the implementation of the Custody Notification Service for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people, highlighting its importance in preventing deaths in custody and reducing Indigenous incarceration rates. He acknowledges federal funding and criticises the previous government's rejection of initial offers.
AnsweredQoN 1005Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CUSTODY NOTIFICATION
SERVICE
1005. Ms M.M. QUIRK to the Attorney General:
Can the Attorney General update this
house on how the McGowan Labor government is implementing the state's
first custody notification service, which was a recommendation of the coronial
inquest into the tragic death of Miss Dhu and a recommendation of the Community
Development and Justice Standing Committee in its ''In Safe Custody:
Inquiry into Custodial Arrangements in Police Lock-ups'' report and the
1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody?
SERVICE
1005. Ms M.M. QUIRK to the Attorney General:
Can the Attorney General update this
house on how the McGowan Labor government is implementing the state's
first custody notification service, which was a recommendation of the coronial
inquest into the tragic death of Miss Dhu and a recommendation of the Community
Development and Justice Standing Committee in its ''In Safe Custody:
Inquiry into Custodial Arrangements in Police Lock-ups'' report and the
1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Girrawheen
for her question. I am aware of her keen interest in this subject. I am very
proud to be an Attorney in Premier McGowan's government that has
introduced the custody notification service. The custody notification service
will require all police officers taking into custody any Indigenous or Torres
Strait Islander person to immediately contact the custody notification service.
I want to acknowledge the federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator
Scullion, who first wrote to the Western Australian government in September
2016 offering to fund such a service, but that invitation and suggestion by
Senator Scullion in 2016 was promptly rejected by the former government under a
letter signed by the member for Scarborough, who at the time was the Minister
for Police.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : We put a trial
program in.
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : No, you did
not. I also want to thank the Commissioner of Police for his help in designing
a new police regulation that will soon be put before the Parliament and that
will mandate the requirement for all officers to contact the custody
notification service. This service is part of the McGowan Labor government's
suite of reforms to reduce the unnecessary incarceration of Indigenous people.
Miss Dhu should never have been in custody. She should never have died in
custody. Mr Ward should never have been in custody. He should never have died in custody. Had there been a custody
notification service, neither of these two deaths would have occurred.
In the letter to the previous
government, Senator Scullion pointed out to the Liberal government that there
had not been a death in custody in New South Wales in the 10 years that the
custody notification service had been running, except for one death when there
was a technical failure of the service—only one death in 10 years. We
are about to implement in Western Australia a
custody notification service that will be manned 24/7 by five lawyers out of
the Aboriginal Legal Service, and they will have two support staff. Upon an
Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander person being taken into custody, the new
police regulation that will soon be put before the Parliament will mandate that
the officers have to immediately contact the custody notification service,
which will inquire as to the mental health and general health of the prisoner
and take information regarding bail considerations for the prisoner. In this
way, we are confident that there will be a lowering of the number of Indigenous
arrestees held in custody.
The McGowan Labor government will
also be presently introducing to the Parliament some substantial reforms to the
fines enforcement legislation of Western Australia. The custody notification
service will feed into that to lower the disgraceful rate of Indigenous
incarceration in Western Australia, which currently stands at about 40 per cent
of our prison population drawn from a base population of about 2.2 per cent of
Indigenous persons in Western Australia. I want to thank the federal government
for its contribution of $700 000 and acknowledge that we are topping that up
with over $200 000, and I thank the Commissioner of Police for facilitating
this custody notification service and the new regulation.
for her question. I am aware of her keen interest in this subject. I am very
proud to be an Attorney in Premier McGowan's government that has
introduced the custody notification service. The custody notification service
will require all police officers taking into custody any Indigenous or Torres
Strait Islander person to immediately contact the custody notification service.
I want to acknowledge the federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator
Scullion, who first wrote to the Western Australian government in September
2016 offering to fund such a service, but that invitation and suggestion by
Senator Scullion in 2016 was promptly rejected by the former government under a
letter signed by the member for Scarborough, who at the time was the Minister
for Police.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : We put a trial
program in.
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : No, you did
not. I also want to thank the Commissioner of Police for his help in designing
a new police regulation that will soon be put before the Parliament and that
will mandate the requirement for all officers to contact the custody
notification service. This service is part of the McGowan Labor government's
suite of reforms to reduce the unnecessary incarceration of Indigenous people.
Miss Dhu should never have been in custody. She should never have died in
custody. Mr Ward should never have been in custody. He should never have died in custody. Had there been a custody
notification service, neither of these two deaths would have occurred.
In the letter to the previous
government, Senator Scullion pointed out to the Liberal government that there
had not been a death in custody in New South Wales in the 10 years that the
custody notification service had been running, except for one death when there
was a technical failure of the service—only one death in 10 years. We
are about to implement in Western Australia a
custody notification service that will be manned 24/7 by five lawyers out of
the Aboriginal Legal Service, and they will have two support staff. Upon an
Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander person being taken into custody, the new
police regulation that will soon be put before the Parliament will mandate that
the officers have to immediately contact the custody notification service,
which will inquire as to the mental health and general health of the prisoner
and take information regarding bail considerations for the prisoner. In this
way, we are confident that there will be a lowering of the number of Indigenous
arrestees held in custody.
The McGowan Labor government will
also be presently introducing to the Parliament some substantial reforms to the
fines enforcement legislation of Western Australia. The custody notification
service will feed into that to lower the disgraceful rate of Indigenous
incarceration in Western Australia, which currently stands at about 40 per cent
of our prison population drawn from a base population of about 2.2 per cent of
Indigenous persons in Western Australia. I want to thank the federal government
for its contribution of $700 000 and acknowledge that we are topping that up
with over $200 000, and I thank the Commissioner of Police for facilitating
this custody notification service and the new regulation.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.