FIFTH indigenous prisoner dies in police custody in a single month in Australia
- A 45-year-old Indigenous prisoner has died at Perth’s maximum security prison
- The Indigenous prisoner from Casuarina Prison in Perth died on Saturday
- He died in hospital after a medical procedure and being placed in intensive care
- It is the fifth Aboriginal death in police custody since the beginning of the month
An Indigenous inmate at Perth’s maximum security Casuarina Prison has died in hospital, adding to a recent spate of Aboriginal deaths in police custody, the fifth across Australia in a month.
The latest death involves a 45-year-old male inmate at Perth’s Casuarina Prison, Western Australia’s main maximum-security prison.
He was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital on Friday and died on Saturday after undergoing a medical procedure and being placed in intensive care.
The 45-year-old prisoner was being held at Casuarina prison, Western Australia’s maximum security prison before he was taken to hospital where he died
‘His next of kin have been notified,’ the WA Department of Justice said on Sunday.
WA Police will prepare a report for a coronial inquiry, in accordance with all deaths in custody.
There’s been a spate of other Indigenous deaths in custody across the country over the past month.
Barkindji man Anzac Sullivan died during a police pursuit in Broken Hill on March 18
Barkindji man Anzac Sullivan, 37, died during a police pursuit in Broken Hill, NSW on March 18.
Another man died in Victoria’s Ravenhall Correctional Centre on March 7 and a woman in her 50s died in custody in NSW on the same day.
A man in his 30s died in NSW on March 2.
The recent wave of fatalities prompted Indigenous senator Pat Dodson to warn another royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody could be needed unless there are major efforts to address the national scourge.
More than 450 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since the release of the 1991 landmark royal commission report.
With the 30-year anniversary of the 339 recommendations next month, Indigenous leaders are demanding more action to fix the shameful statistics.
Senator Dodson pursued bureaucrats at a parliamentary inquiry on March 26 over what action was being taken to address deaths in custody.
‘Use your influence, because this is a scandal. An absolute scandal,’ he told Assistant Attorney-General Amanda Stoker.
Senator Stoker said 91 per cent of the royal commission’s recommendations had been fully implemented before noting many drivers of incarceration rates needed state and territory action.
The recent Aboriginal deaths in custody have prompted Senator Pat Dodson to wartn there may be a need for another Royal Commission
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