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| NSW Indigenous custody notification service gets federal funding lifeline | NSW Indigenous custody notification service gets federal funding lifeline |
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| The New South Wales custody notification service has been thrown a lifeline with funding announced by the Indigenous affairs minister on Wednesday, who also said he would like to see all states and territories adopt a similar service. | The New South Wales custody notification service has been thrown a lifeline with funding announced by the Indigenous affairs minister on Wednesday, who also said he would like to see all states and territories adopt a similar service. |
| The minister, Nigel Scullion, confirmed $263,000 in federal funding for the custody notification service (CNS) while in Milingimbi in the Northern Territory launching the government’s reworked remote jobs program. | The minister, Nigel Scullion, confirmed $263,000 in federal funding for the custody notification service (CNS) while in Milingimbi in the Northern Territory launching the government’s reworked remote jobs program. |
| “The important message is that the service is going to continue and is not going to have a hiatus at all and clients will continue to receive the very important service in NSW,” Scullion said. | |
| The CNS involves a team of Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) lawyers operating a round-the-clock phone service for Indigenous people who have been arrested. Under NSW law the ALS must be notified whenever an Indigenous person is taken into custody by police. | The CNS involves a team of Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) lawyers operating a round-the-clock phone service for Indigenous people who have been arrested. Under NSW law the ALS must be notified whenever an Indigenous person is taken into custody by police. |
| The CNS was due to lose all federal funding on Wednesday. It relies on one-off grants, but the office of the attorney general, George Brandis, last week denied it was being “de-funded”, saying instead that the ALS should pay for the service out of its main budget. | |
| The ALS applied for CNS funding under the federal Indigenous advancement strategy but was rejected. | |
| No Aboriginal deaths in custody have been recorded in NSW since its inception. | No Aboriginal deaths in custody have been recorded in NSW since its inception. |
| The grant announced by Scullion represents half of the CNS’s annual running cost, and he reportedly suggested the NSW government should pay the rest. | The grant announced by Scullion represents half of the CNS’s annual running cost, and he reportedly suggested the NSW government should pay the rest. |
| He said he’d spoken to the NSW attorney-general, Gabrielle Upton, and had a “positive conversation” | |
| “Gabrielle and I have a clear understanding this is a very important service and someone should fund it,” he said. | |
| Scullion also said he would push for the service, which was a recommendation made by the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, to be rolled out in other jurisdictions. | Scullion also said he would push for the service, which was a recommendation made by the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, to be rolled out in other jurisdictions. |
| “The evidence is over 15 years, now some 300 calls a day over a 24-hour period have resulted in no deaths in custody,” Scullion said. | “The evidence is over 15 years, now some 300 calls a day over a 24-hour period have resulted in no deaths in custody,” Scullion said. |
| “I will be looking for conversations with the remaining states and territories about how they wish to proceed. Any death in custody is one death too [many].” | “I will be looking for conversations with the remaining states and territories about how they wish to proceed. Any death in custody is one death too [many].” |
| Western Australia is looking at introducing the service after the government came under fire for its response to the death in custody of Indigenous woman, Miss Dhu, in August last year. | Western Australia is looking at introducing the service after the government came under fire for its response to the death in custody of Indigenous woman, Miss Dhu, in August last year. |
| Scullion will meet the Northern Territory chief minister, Adam Giles, on Thursday to discuss it, according to the ABC. | |
| Giles said he was not aware of the CNS, but looked forward to speaking to Scullion. | |
| “What he wants to see is the best outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people right across Australia and if he’s presenting this in NSW as an option of reducing deaths in custody then he’s obviously highly motivated and I’ll be keen to have a chat because anything we can do to support people who are going through our criminal justice system is a positive outcome,” said Giles. | |
| However Giles would not be drawn on whether he supported the idea of a CNS in the Northern Territory. | |
| “In all fairness you’ve got to allow us to go back and look at what happens in New South Wales.” | |
| Two Indigenous people have died in custody in recent weeks in the Northern Territory – a 40-year-old man serving a sentence in the Alice Springs jail, and a 63-year-old man who died in the Darwin watch house after being arrested under the controversial paperless arrest laws for drinking in public. | Two Indigenous people have died in custody in recent weeks in the Northern Territory – a 40-year-old man serving a sentence in the Alice Springs jail, and a 63-year-old man who died in the Darwin watch house after being arrested under the controversial paperless arrest laws for drinking in public. |
| Scullion’s office has been contacted for comment. | Scullion’s office has been contacted for comment. |