Protests were held around the country on Thursday following the acquittal of a West Australian police officer who shot dead Yamatji woman JC in 2019.
Up to 200 people turned up to Edith Cowan Square in JC's hometown of Geraldton, while in Perth, about 100 people gathered, with many pressing red-dyed hands onto the steps of Parliament House.
There was a one-minute silence held before JC’s sister Bernadette Clarke delivered an emotional plea in front of the building.
"At the end of the day, a white man can shoot a black man, and that’s no fair. And its been going on for how long," she said.
“My sister deserves to rest in peace in a proper manner in a cultural way.
"This is why I'm standing here strong. For her.
"We are taking this to Canberra next, to that parliament. We will march all over Australia for JC."
Last week the officer was found not guilty of the murder or manslaughter of JC in the town of Geraldton in 2019.
JC's sister Bernadette Clarke delivered a powerful statement to the Perth crowd. Source: NITV News: Kearyn Cox
“He killed my sister and then he walked free on this land," Ms Clarke said.
“We need a fair go and it starts with all of us here.”
Noongar woman and Human Rights lawyer Dr Hannah McGlade also addressed the crowd.
"This was an Aboriginal woman with a disability and a mental illness released from prison with no care and support," she said.
"And the McGowan government has invested one-point-eight-six billion into increasing policing, what's left for our women?"
Chairperson of the Geraldton Aboriginal Medical Service Sandy Davies called for change within the legal system.
Mourners at a rally for Yamatji woman JC in Perth. Source: NITV News: Kearyn Cox
"When Aboriginal people go to court, there has to be people in that court who have medical background on mental health and depression," he said.
"Because what happens is, when they go into court, the magistrate doesn't have a clue and has no medical background.
"The lawyers don't have no medical background."
Megan Krakouer from the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project took aim at governments across the country about their actions to prevent deaths in custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 30 years ago.
"Is there political will?" she said.
"We've had nearly 500 people that have died at the hands of police and in the prisons.. and by 2025 we are predicting there's going to be at least 600."
Other speakers included prominent WA community figures Uncle Ben Taylor, Mervyn Eades, Robert Eggington and Gerry Georgatos.
There was a brief confrontation between attendees and police who tried to stop people from leaving the handprints on the parliament steps.
In Sydney, supporters gathered outside the Supreme Court to call for change in the justice system.
Attendees pressed red-dyed hands into the steps of WA parliament in Perth Source: NITV News: Kearyn Cox
“I stand here in front of an institution that’s been fraudulent to my people... a system that’s been discriminatory and racist,” Muruwari and Budjiti man Bruce Shillingsworth said.
Rallies were also held in the nation’s capital, backing calls for independent investigations into deaths in custody.
Nearly 500 Indigenous people have died since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991.
No police or corrections officer has ever been held accountable for a death in custody.
