Since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC), over thirty years ago, there have been over 400 Indigenous deaths in custody, with 30% of the Australian prison population identifying as Indigenous. Indigenous over-representation in the criminal justice system continues to be an unresolved issue despite varying attempts to mitigate it.

Over the last quarter of a century, most research into crime and criminal justice has been undertaken through methods that have privileged state-centred perspectives and perpetuated the silencing of Indigenous perspectives and voices through omission. Thus, the true nature and extent of state crime becomes buried in the statistics. Therefore, my research aimed to elevate the voices of Indigenous Australian people by gaining their insights and understanding of their lived experiences in the criminal justice system.

This paper presents some of the results of a research project that applied a fresh approach to analysing the violence of Indigenous incarceration using the theory of necropolitics and related concepts. Specifically, it focuses on pervasive issues within the police (necro-enforcers) and corrective services (death-producers) arms of the criminal justice system that were found to have contributed, in some part, to in-custody deaths and violence experienced by Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice system.

Update: Unfortunately, the zoom link failed on the day. However, the presenter has recorded the presentation and it can be accessed via https://youtu.be/Bp05D1DTL78

Image provided by Kirstie Broadfield