Aboriginal Law Bulletin
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by Daniel Lavery
In June 1989 at Geneva, the Conference of the International Labour Organisation completed its revision of ILO Convention No 107 (see [1988] AboriginalLB 51; 2(34)pg12).
The text of the revised Convention has been circulated with Aboriginal Law Notes (ALN 89/4) and we hope to include a commentary in the October issue (Vol 2, No 40) of the Aboriginal Law Bulletin.
One matter which Aboriginal organisations may want to consider is whether the revised Convention should or should not be ratified by the Australian Government.
A 4-week summer course under the name Diplomacy Training Program is to be inaugurated on 8 January 1990 at the University of New South Wales. It is to be run under the auspices of the Human Rights Centre. It is described as "a specialist training program for developing nations" but is also pitched at indigenous and minority group representatives from the Asia-Pacific region. It should be of value, for example, to Aboriginal people wishing to operate effectively in the United Nations system.
The program has been. approved for Abstudy purposes such that fares, residential costs and incidentals (but not fees) will be covered for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people selected into the Program.
Further details: Aboriginal Law Centre University of New South Wales.
Ph. 697- 2252
The Aboriginal Law Centre has received a grant of $10,451 from the Criminology Research Council in Canberra to conduct research in the area of Aboriginal youth and the juvenile justice system in NSW. While it has been acknowledged that Aboriginal youth comprise around 25% of inmates in juvenile institutions in the state, little information has been available on comparative arrest rates or treatment by the juvenile courts between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth. The research is designed to provide information in this area. The co-researchers for the project are Chris Cunneen from the ALC and Garth Luke from the NSW Judicial Commission.
The Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody is currently holding a series of hearings in the Northern Territory. Commissioner Elliot Johnston QC will hear evidence in formal and informal settings in Alice Springs, Katherine and Darwin.
In the week commencing 31 July Commissioner Johnston started the hearing into the death of P.P.[1], an initiated Anmatyere man, who died in lonely and depressed circumstances in Alice Springs in late November 1980.
Like all deaths investigated, the death of Kwementyaye[2] had its own tragedy. Once described as "the best man after wild cattle I ever rode with", he ended his abbreviated life alcoholic, epileptic, and chronically injured. The early portrait of a fine stockman was a far cry from the camp-dweller of 1980 who was described in patient notes from the Alice Springs Hospital as "a disgusting man knifed by his wife." Kwementyaye died on the concrete floor of the drunk's tank in the Alice Springs police cells after being detained in protective custody some hours earlier. He had brain hemorrhaged from a head injury received at least a day earlier in circumstances unrelated to his custody.
Counsel Assisting the Commission, Geoff Eames, said in his opening address that the circumstances of this imprisonment and death were not in dispute, but that complex questions as to underlying issues were raised.
During the Alice sittings the Commission sat in an informal conference manner and discussed medical and health issues raised by the death. Representatives from the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress Inc (Congress), the Northern Territory Police and Health and Community Services Departments and the Alice Springs Hospital sat in a round-the-table discussion. Apart from the obvious object of receiving relevant evidence, the forum allowed for dialogue between the various representatives.
The Aboriginal Issues Unit (A.I.U.) was set up in the Northern Territory in June and is headed by Marcia Langton. The A.I.U. is organizing forums, meetings and workshops to ensure that the Aboriginal voice is heard on the underlying issues affecting black deaths in custody. This is critically important, as the Commission's emphasis is shifting away from the particularity of circumstances of individual deaths to the underlying social, legal and cultural issues which have a bearing on the deaths.
The issues squarely raised by the evidence heard in the Northern Territory to date are:
The Commission is now hearing evidences into the death of a young Warlpiri man from Ali Curang who died in the Katherine Police Cells in late 1984. This hearing will be in Katherine and is expected to go for some weeks and touch on issues including town camp existence, alcohol abuse and race relations.
Discussions and workshops will also be held in this fortnight under the auspices of the A.I.U. to address the broader social and cultural questions.
Various jurisdictional issues which are raised by the circumstances of three reported deaths will then be dealt with in Darwin. Theses hearings will commence on 28 August. Rulings by Commissioner Johnston will determine whether these matters fall within jurisdiction and thus are to be investigated and reported on.
This will mean that six of the possible twelve reported deaths in the Territory will have been substantially heard.
For further information on the hearings contact the office in Darwin:
3rd Floor Magistrates Court Nichols Place
Darwin NT 0800 or
GPO Box 2224 Darwin NT 0801 telephone (089) 89 7082
The A.I.U. is based in Alice Springs. Contact : PO Box 8244 Alice Springs NT 0871
The telephone number is (089) 53 1899
[1] Name suppressed.
[2] This term is used to refer to the deceased man. The Anmatyere spelling is used.
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