WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this article contains names and images of deceased people.
TIMELINE
September 1983
John Pat, a 16-year-old boy, in Roebourne, Western Australia, after being beaten to death by a group of off-duty, drunk police officers. There is a public outcry following his death.
August 1987
Lloyd Boney is found dead in a police cell in Brewarrina, NSW. His death is regarded as the catalyst for the Royal Commission, as Prime Minister Bob Hawke orders a Royal Commission to investigate Aboriginal deaths that had occurred in State and Territory jails.
It is to investigate all deaths in custody between January 1980 and May 1989.
WARNING: This video contains images of deceased people. They include Eddie Murray, John Pat, Robert Walker, Charlie Michaels, Tony King, Dixon Green, Lloyd James Boney, Alfred Daniel Yock, Cameron Doomadgee – all of whom died in police custody.
April 1991
The Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody delivers including:
12: A Coroner inquiring into a death in custody be required by law to investigate not only the cause and circumstances of the death but also the quality of the care, treatment and supervision of the deceased prior to death. 60b. That Police Services take all possible steps to eliminate the use of racist or offensive language, or the use of racist or derogatory comments in log books and other documents, by police officers. 92. That governments which have not already done so should legislate to enforce the principle that imprisonment should be utilised only as a sanction of last resort.
1993
The in Western Australia is set up by a coalition of concerned parties. Its aim is to monitor and work to ensure the effective implementation of the findings from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody.
April 1994
Protesters in Sydney and Brisbane renew their calls for the Australian government to adopt the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Indigenous community leaders claim the recent Criminal Justice Commission report into the death of Aboriginal dancer Daniel Yock in Brisbane is a "whitewash".
October 1996
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner prepares a on the 96 deaths in custody since 1989 and presents it to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
It finds that each death in custody breached, on average, 8.5 of the recommendations made in the Royal Commission Report.
November 2004
Cameron Doomadgee is arrested for swearing and less than an hour later is found dead in his cell, sparking riots on Palm Island. It is the 147th death since the handing down of the Royal Commission Report. Manslaughter charges are laid against Chris Hurley though he is later acquitted, making him the first police officer to appear before a court in relation to an Indigenous death in custody.
January 2008
Mr Ward dies of heatstroke after collapsing in the back of a police van that was transporting him in 42°C. A coronial inquest finds that the two guards, the company in charge of prison transportation and the WA Department of Corrective Service contributed to his death and his family receives a $3.6 million compensation payout from the WA Government.
2008
An shows that Australian states and territories have only acted on a fraction of the coronial recommendations of the Report.
September 2013
The Western Australian Government is asked to apologise to the family of teenager John Pat. The Parliament agrees to make a to the family.
Protests over John Pat's death in Perth. Source: SBS
August 2014
Ms Dhu dies in a WA hospital, three days after she was arrested for unpaid fines. A coronial inquest finds she died of septicaemia and pneumonia and criticised both the police officers and the health service involved.
Lawyers involved in the case claimed that if the recommendations of the Royal Commission Report had been implemented Miss Dhu would not have died.
November 2015
The High Court of Australia upholds the Northern Territory’s paperless arrest laws after the Territory coroner branded the laws 'manifestly unfair' and disproportionately targeted Indigenous Australians.
Mr Langdon died in custody of heart failure after being arrested under the scheme.
The Numbers
According to , 16 per cent of all deaths in custody between 2011 and 2013 across Australia were Aboriginal (15 of 95 deaths), a sharp fall from the number of deaths
Source: NITV
Source: NITV
Recommended reading
Royal commission into deaths in custody 25th anniversary: What's changed?
