History

In the years immediately following completion of the RCIADIC, all jurisdictions were required to report annually on implementation progress. There was regular government reporting on implementation in Victoria.

In 1997, the National Ministerial Summit on Indigenous Deaths in Custody was held to assess implementation of RCIADIC recommendations and examine new strategies to address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal legal system. The Summit resulted in a shift away from annual reporting, and the Victorian Government developed the Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA) in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal community, which sought to improve justice outcomes for Aboriginal people and reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the Victorian ‘justice’ system. This Agreement, launched in 2000 and now in its fourth phase, is the longest running of its kind in Australia.

Despite the recommendations of RCIADIC being delivered over 30 years ago, many remain relevant, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander proportion of the prison population in Victoria has almost tripled. In 1991, there were 90 Aboriginal people in Victoria’s prisons accounting for 3.9 per cent of the total prison population. By the end of 2021, there were 714 Aboriginal people in Victoria’s prisons accounting for 10.9 per cent of the total prison population. While perceptions among Aboriginal organisations and communities differ, there is a shared sense that little has changed in the intervening period, reflected in continuing high rates of Aboriginal incarceration and deaths in custody.

There is no shared understanding between government and Aboriginal communities across Victoria, of where Victoria is at with implementation of RCIADIC recommendations. Not enough has been done. RCIADIC recommendations have ongoing relevance, because the fundamental design of the ‘justice’ system remains the same, and Aboriginal over-representation continues to rise.

In 2001, The Regional Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee (RAJAC) was established, it operated in addition to and independent of the VAJAC. The Committees operated across Victoria, with five regional Committees. Each RAJAC consisted of representatives from Aboriginal community organisations responsible for delivery of justice-related services, and representatives from relevant Victorian Government agencies, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, and local government. Victorian Government agencies typically included in RAJACs were Victoria Police, Community Corrections, Magistrates’ Court, Juvenile Justice and Sheriff’s Office.

The RAJACs are instrumental in developing and maintaining strong partnerships and plans between Aboriginal communities and justice agencies under the AJA. They play an important role in building community participation and involvement in AJA related work, advocating for program and service changes to improve justice outcomes, providing advice and expertise in the development and implementation of place-based initiatives, and ensuring regional issues are raised and responded to via the AJF.

The role and responsibilities of RAJACs are to:

• act as the conduit between the regional Aboriginal community and DJCS on key issues relating to Aboriginal justice, respectfully and appropriately facilitating the flow of information

• maintain regular communication and engagement with the Aboriginal community and government and community sector stakeholders to identify key justice issues and work in partnership to address these

• advocate for and promote justice and other related initiatives to improve Aboriginal justice outcomes to both Aboriginal communities and government agencies

• develop and implement Regional Justice Action Plans that address the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the justice system

• promote, participate in, and provide advice to cross-agency and partnership forums, such as the AJF, or other related regional Aboriginal advocacy groups

• monitor and comment on Aboriginal contact with the justice system at a regional level

• participate in grant funding processes for Aboriginal justice-related programs as appropriate

• aide in the successful delivery of programs and initiatives under the AJA

• maintain good governance and operations according to the Framework of Operations

• promote and support the LAJACs (where established), providing advocacy for them at the regional level.

Each RAJAC is chaired by a community member who is selected by their peers and supported by a full-time Executive Officer. The key tasks of the Executive Officer position included providing secretariat support, ongoing development and negotiating of the implementation of regional plans and contributing to the development of the State-wide plan.

As part of an overall aim to maximise Aboriginal community participation, many RAJACs also included Aboriginal youth among their membership. The structure and evolution of the RAJAC Network focused on the broad advisory and monitoring role originally recommended by the RCIADIC. RAJACs have been encouraged to develop processes and approaches which are reflective of the needs and aspirations of their members and the communities they represent. This is reflected in the frequency and locations of meetings; matters on the agenda; and most importantly, strategies employed to advance justice-related issues.

The Aboriginal Justice Caucus have been clear on the need for updated analysis, informed by the principles of self-determination and Aboriginal measures of success to assess Victoria’s recent progress in implementing RCIADIC recommendations, and the effectiveness of implementation.

This analysis will help to provide a clear picture of where work remains necessary to address issues highlighted by the RCIADIC. It will identify actions required in the short to medium term to address incomplete recommendations, and that can be implemented in the course of projects underway across the justice portfolio and/or prior to the conclusion of the Yoorrook Justice Commission.

The analysis will be submitted to the Yoorrook Justice Commission to assist the Commission’s inquiries into systemic injustices in the areas of policing, youth and criminal justice, incarceration, detention and the broader legal system; and identification of potential systemic and institutional reforms to address ongoing injustice.

Given the Victorian Government’s commitment to and support for the Yoorrook Justice Commission it may provide a well-resourced path to realise a range of RCIADIC recommendations, especially given the breadth of many of them, and those that require significant structural or systemic reform.

The Coroner’s Court of Victoria (CCoV) is responsible for investigating all reportable deaths, including deaths in custody. Following an investigation, the coroner makes findings as to the cause and circumstances of the death, and sometimes also recommendations that may help prevent similar tragedies.

Coronial investigations of deaths in custody may also consider internal departmental reports, namely those prepared by Justice Health which examine provision of healthcare, and the Justice Assurance and Review Office which examine custodial management and incident response. These reports are not publicly available.

The findings, recommendations, and subsequent responses of coronial investigations will then be published online where an inquest was held, recommendations have been made, or a coroner otherwise orders they be published. However, this means that not all investigations into deaths in custody are published, as only a small proportion (less than five percent) of investigations are held as public inquests and not all findings are accompanied by recommendations