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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website contains the names and images of people who have passed
This is a RCIADIC recommendation
5
Counselling support for families of those who died in custody
That governments, recognising the trauma and pain suffered by relatives, kin and friends of those who died in custody, give sympathetic support to requests to provide funds or services to enable counselling to be offered to these people.
Aboriginal Justice Caucus Assessment
The intent of Recommendation 5 was to provide sympathetic support, including funds and services such as counselling, to relatives, kin, and friends of individuals who died in custody.
The Aboriginal Justice Caucus (AJC) found minimal evidence of actions taken that align with the intent of Recommendation 5. The Coroners Court of Victoria facilitates counselling through referrals to external services, but the court does not fund these services. While some Aboriginal organisations are funded by government to provide counselling services, they are not funded specifically to support families affected by deaths in custody.
I'm disappointed that witnesses get counselling services provided to them but there’s nothing for bereaved families. I think it's unfair. Families of the deceased should have counselling services made available to them
(Bobby Nicholls, Chairperson, Hume RAJAC).
The AJC found no evidence of outcomes in terms of funding or services specifically targeted to the needs of families whose loved one died in custody. Recommendation 5 was considered highly relevant given the continued need for culturally safe, accessible counselling and support tailored to the unique needs of families affected by the loss of a loved one in custody. The Coronial Council’s review of the experiences of bereaved families, and lack of government action in response to it, further demonstrate the ongoing relevance of this recommendation.
The AJC felt that implementation of models proposed by the Coronial Council for bereavement counselling and support, and restorative justice mechanisms would considerably improve implementation of this recommendation, as would increasing funding for the Coroners Aboriginal Engagement Unit and ensuring funds are available to families to access services and supports that reflect their needs. The latter could be achieved by redistributing funds from implicated agencies.
Police, courts, corrections, and jails—they're all implicated in deaths in custody. Therefore, they should all contribute to the counselling side of it. They should be levied funding dollars, and the case built, given the number of deaths in custody already.
(Lawrence Moser, Chairperson, Eastern Metropolitan RAJAC).
Priority for Further Work:
Moderate
Relevance and potential impact | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low (0-2) | Moderate (3-4) | High (5-6) | |||
Extent of action taken and evidence of outcomes | High (5-6) | ||||
Moderate (3-4) | |||||
Low (0-2) | |||||
Potential Actions for Further Work
Implement Coronial Council recommendations to improve the experiences of bereaved families
Implement recommendations made by the Coronial Council in relation to bereavement counselling and support and restorative justice models, staff training, referral pathways and building capacity within other organisations.
Immediate financial support for families after a death in custody
Provide families with a financial support payment (to cover funeral expenses, travel, counselling and other assistance) immediately after a person has died in custody (similar to payments made to families when a child passes in the care of the State). (Agencies with custodial responsibilities to contribute to this fund.)
Additional resourcing for Aboriginal Engagement Unit within the Coroners Court
Provide additional resources to the Yirramboi Murrup Unit (Coroners Aboriginal Engagement Unit) to better support families with coronial processes, and the collection and recording of information from reportable Aboriginal passings.
Background
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) emphasised the need for accessible and culturally sensitive services for family and friends of Aboriginal individuals who died in custody. The Commission considered essential functions for such services included notifying family of the death, providing information about coronial processes, advising families of their rights, appropriate counselling, referrals, education and general support.
The RCIADIC found that existing services were inadequate and often increased the distress of grieving families. Some jurisdictions indicated their intention to enhance counselling services associated with the coroner's office. Ultimately, the RCIADIC urged collaboration between coroners' legal staff and Aboriginal legal and health services to ensure families received culturally responsive support.
Actions Taken Since Last Review
Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine
This 24-hour Coronial Admissions and Enquiries service is the first point of contact with the coronial system for families of a deceased person. It has been provided by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) since 2013, when the function was transferred from the Coroners Court. Nursing and administrative staff within Coronial Admissions and Enquiries assist in the earliest stages of the death investigation. Staff work closely with families providing them with information and support throughout the initial investigation, particularly for those families who need to attend the VIFM to view the body of their family member for identification and therapeutic purposes.
If an Aboriginal passing in custody is reported, the State Coroner is immediately notified as is the Aboriginal Medico-Legal Liaison Officer within the Coronial Admissions and Enquiries team and the Yirramboi Murrup Unit (Coroners Aboriginal Engagement Unit).
Coroners Court of Victoria
The Yirramboi Murrup Unit (formerly the Coroners Aboriginal Engagement Unit) assists Aboriginal families to navigate coronial processes by providing culturally appropriate support and improving the cultural sensitivity of coronial investigations and court proceedings. The Unit consists of Aboriginal people employed by the CCOV to provide cultural support and work directly with Aboriginal families throughout the coronial process.
The Court’s Family Liaison Officers and the Yirramboi Murrup Unit jointly comprise the Family Support Program (FSP) which:
- assists families throughout the coronial process
- provides a trauma and culturally informed response to families in distress or crisis
- provides families with bereavement support, education and referral to external services
- supports court staff with specialist insight into the family perspective
- educates and engages with external services and stakeholders
No dedicated counselling service is currently offered by the CCOV itself and counselling is facilitated by way of referral to external services.
The bereavement support provided to individuals or families varies depending on their needs which often change depending on the stage of the investigation.
Coronial Council of Victoria
The Coronial Council of Victoria is a statutory body established under the Coroners Act 2008 (Vic.). It provides advice and makes recommendations to the Attorney-General on issues of importance to Victoria’s coronial system.
In 2020 the Coronial Council reviewed the experiences of bereaved family members during the coronial process. The review recommended changes to improve the experience of bereaved families and ensure the Coroners Court of Victoria (CCOV) provides a family-focused, trauma-informed and culturally responsive approach across all of its functions including communications with families. Many of these changes related to support and counselling for bereaved families, with the Coronial Council recommending that the Coroners Court:
- Implement a three-tiered, stepped-care bereavement counselling and support model to provide appropriate levels of support to bereaved families according to their expressed need/choice. Where required, in-depth support and focused short-term bereavement counselling should be provided by CCOV staff to referred families throughout the coronial process.
- Plan for and establish suitable spaces for the provision of counselling and in-depth support to bereaved families, including private family rooms, individual counselling room(s) and suitable telehealth facilities.
- Pilot restorative justice approaches, including a model whereby after a coronial process concludes, and it has been identified that a bereaved family member(s) would benefit from a facilitated dialogue with an individual or organisation involved in their loved one’s death, they are referred to an independent service provider that can facilitate a restorative process.
The Coronial Council also made several recommendations that jointly applied to the CCOV and Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM), including that they:
- Develop a Charter for Bereaved People that best communicates the quality of care and services they provide.
- Provide staff with regular professional development and training covering, as appropriate: induction in trauma-informed practice and cultural awareness, trauma-informed bereavement/grief support after reportable death, culturally sensitive and safe bereavement and trauma-informed care, facilitation of therapeutic viewings.
- Establish appropriate health, safety and wellbeing measures that recognise that bereaved families are a vulnerable cohort.
- Improve and consolidate proactive referral pathways to external bereavement support organisations by:
a) clarifying pathways and options for referral for support and counselling, including identifying relevant agencies with the expertise and capacity to provide support/counselling
b) developing consistency in making proactive (‘warm’) referrals to relevant external bereavement/counselling organisations
c) delivering a program of education about the role and function of CCOV and VIFM with key external bereavement organisations.
- Collaborate with and build additional capacity within organisations such as the Victims Assistance Program as well as the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, community legal centres and Victoria Legal Aid to provide information and support to family members about the coronial process, including legal advice and representation.
The Victorian Government has not published a response to these recommendations.
Coroners Court of Victoria
In response to the Coronial Council’s review, the Coroners Court clarified that it does not directly provide counselling services to families who have lost a loved one in custody.
Currently, no on-site counselling services are provided by the CCOV itself, and counselling is facilitated by way of referral to external services. These are not funded by the Court. Some are funded through the Victorian Government or through agreements with the then Department of Health and Human Services (now the Department of Health and Department of Families, Fairness and Housing), and some are funded by the Commonwealth Government (through Medicare via a mental health care plan) or charitable organisations, or a combination of these resource streams.
Impact
Outputs
The Coroners Court does not fund counselling services. Counselling may be facilitated through referrals to external services. The Victorian Government, Commonwealth Government or charitable organisations may fund these services.
Outcomes
Review into improving the experience of bereaved families with the coronial process
To support the Coronial Council’s review, the Centre for Innovative Justice (CIJ) consulted bereaved families and organisational stakeholders, including CCOV and VIFM staff, grief support and victims’ assistance agencies, people from the legal sector and funeral industry.
The experiences shared by bereaved family members illustrated limitations with referrals to counselling and other support services:
Most family members interviewed said that they had received no offers of or referrals to counselling as part of the coronial process or at least did not recall having done so. In some instances, this was despite asking staff on numerous occasions if they could provide information about or referrals to any available services. Even if they had their own existing counsellor, some wanted specialist grief counselling and/or to arrange assistance for other family members.
Some family members indicated the need for more assistance with practical needs such as seeking financial assistance for accommodation, and legal representation. Those who had attended inquests also felt more should be done to provide families with comfortable spaces in which to take breaks from the hearing, and basic catering facilities.
The CIJ research also highlighted concerns among Court and VIFM staff that reiterated the need for improved referrals to support groups and grief counsellors:
While VIFM and Court staff indicated they regularly refer bereaved family members to external support groups and grief counsellors, many expressed concerns about this process, suggesting that the list of counselling services was basic and long.
A refined list of referral services is required to ensure family members are being referred by the CCOV to the right specialist services, and those services are available and sufficiently funded to be able to provide the support required:
For them [bereaved families] to access relevant care in a timeframe that is useful, is really difficult… I think we could maybe refine that a bit more. Have some names of really specific counsellors that would be willing to offer their services.
Grief support organisations indicated that they received very few direct referrals from the Coroners Court and opportunities for closer links with Court staff and early engagement with bereaved family members:
What we find with people who are bereaved, if you don’t make a warm referral they can slip through the cracks…So, we would much prefer to connect with them reasonably early on…I think there are some real issues there about not recognising that these are traumatically bereaved people, that requirement to navigate that service is not really appreciated in its complexity.
There was strong support for re-establishing in-house grief counselling, especially in the initial stages of a family’s engagement with the Court and coronial process:
We had onsite counsellors that provided absolute counselling services… and when that counselling service was removed during the restructure in 2012, I would have been one of the first people to say that is wrong. These families absolutely need that service and I tell you who else needed it, the staff needed that service.
I think one of the great values of actually having an in-situ support service is that they know the culture of the organisation and are able to correctly advocate for bereaved people.
Community Views
Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
VALS recommends that Aboriginal family members notified of a loved one’s death in custody be informed about culturally safe counselling and support services, with funding provided by the Coroners Court. They also advocate for culturally safe support, including through Aboriginal community-controlled health services, for family members in custody, with compassionate leave for supervised access to these services. Currently, the Coroners Court funds counselling for witnesses but not for family members, highlighting a discrepancy. VALS has federal funding for a Family Support and Advocacy Officer to connect families with services, but availability depends on the capacity of those services. Some clients also seek mental health support through general practitioners.