Today, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) along with the Aboriginal Justice Caucus, Koorie Youth Council, Federation of Community Legal Centres, Human Rights Law Centre and Youthlaw, have launched an Open Letter to the Victorian Government urgently calling on them to end the cruel and inhumane transfers and treatment of people detained in police custody across Victoria. Without urgent action, we fear that a death in police custody is imminent.
VALS has been sounding the alarm on welfare and safety concerns of Aboriginal people being detained in police cells over the past 12 months. Victoria Police are knowingly manipulating a legal loophole by moving people between police stations, resulting in people staying in police custody well beyond the 14-day legal limit.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush recently stated at the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee hearings, “Whilst it is not unlawful, it is undesirable to have them there”. VALS fundamentally disagrees with the statement that it is not unlawful, which is why we have pursued multiple emergency legal actions to remove people from police custody on the basis that it is unlawful.
This is a state-made problem driven by their unjust criminal legal regime. Police cells were never intended to house people for extended periods of time, because it is unsafe to do so. Commissioner Bush may call it undesirable – we call it inhumane. Our people’s lives matter and we deserve to be safe.
We are now in a situation where the state is incapable of meeting the most basic human rights of people in custody. The Victorian Government cannot ignore this any longer.
VALS’ Open Letter calls for immediate action:
- Victoria Police must stop the practice of detaining people in police stations for longer than the 14-day legal limit,
- Victoria Police must stop the practice of transferring people between police stations to override the 14-day legal limit,
- The Victorian government must legislate the same basic rights for people in police custody as prison custody to stop enabling their mistreatment,
- The Victorian government must reduce the legal limit that police are allowed to detain people in police stations from 14 days to 7 days, and
- The Victorian government must establish a Police Ombudsman to provide independent oversight and monitoring of people being mistreated in police cells.
VALS commends the Greens for introducing legislation to the Victorian Parliament aimed at ensuring people in police custody have the same basic rights as people in prison custody.
VALS will not stop advocating for our peoples’ rights to be upheld.
No Justice. No Peace.
Quotes attributable to Nerita Waight, CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service:
“Police cells are unsafe, they are inhumane and they pose an imminent risk to life for our people. I am beyond proud of VALS’ Custody Notification Officers, who provide ongoing welfare checks to every Aboriginal person who has been arrested across the state. What haunts me is the lack of action by the Victorian Government and Victoria Police to address this issue. Every day we are just waiting, waiting to hear the worst news, that someone in our community has lost their life in a police cell. There are no unintended consequences here, this government’s pursuit of mass incarceration will cost lives, it is simply a matter of time.”
“VALS’ Open Letter provides a clear call to action. The Victorian State Government and Victoria Police are on notice, they must act. They must close this legal loophole that is enabling the mistreatment of people in police custody, and it must be urgently fixed. Our lives matter and VALS will continue to hold this government to account until we achieve a just justice system for our people.”
Quotes attributable to Auntie Marion Hansen and Chris Harrison, Co-Chairs of the Aboriginal Justice Caucus:
“The AJC is deeply concerned about the inhumane conditions Aboriginal people are enduring under long-term detention in police cells. In the lead up to the tightening of bail laws in Victoria, the AJC warned government of this predictable consequence that would deepen injustice in a system already in crisis. These laws are not just punitive – they are reckless, unnecessary, and starkly at odds with the government’s commitments to human rights and justice reforms.”
Quotes attributable to Bonnie Dukakis, CEO of the Koorie Youth Council:
“Aboriginal children and young people should not be detained in police cells. The conditions are inhumane and cause significant harm and trauma to our young people. The Victorian Government’s “tough on crime” approach is dangerously failing our young people. These laws disproportionately impact vulnerable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, and we have seen a significant increase of Aboriginal young people being detained. Locking children up doesn’t work and should be a last resort. It’s well established that young people do best when they are engaged with their communities and connected to their culture.”
“KYC calls for an investment in self-determined, culturally safe and trauma-informed, preventative and early intervention supports for our young people. Children don’t belong in police cells or prisons. We have the solutions, government just need to listen to and invest in us, then we will be able to achieve a shared vision of a safe and just society for all Victorians.”
Quotes attributable to Lee Carnie, CEO of Youth Law:
“No young person should be locked in a police cell for more than 7 days. Police cells are designed for short-term detention, not extended custody – holding young people in custody for weeks on end is harmful, unsafe and unacceptable.”
“The Victorian Parliament needs to urgently close the loophole Victoria Police are using to shuffle young people between stations once the 14-day limit hits, and stop young people being held in police custody longer than they should be.”
Quotes attributable to Sohini Mehta, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre:
“Every person deserves dignity and humanity, especially if they have been deprived of their liberty. But the conditions in Victoria’s police cells are inhumane, with people being detained in unsafe, unsanitary conditions, well past the legal 14-day limit. Police cells are unfit to warehouse people for extended periods of time, creating foreseeable and preventable risks to life.”
“This dangerous and escalating crisis is the direct result of the Allan Government’s regressive bail laws and ‘tough on crime’ approach, which has funnelled people into police cells and prisons and targeted First Nations communities. We call on Victoria Police to immediately stop detaining people in police stations for longer than the 14-day legal limit, and to stop transferring people between police stations to circumvent this limit.”
“The Allan Government must act now to stop the mistreatment of people in police cells. Victoria urgently needs an independent Police Ombudsman capable of holding police accountable for the mistreatment of people in custody, alongside legislation to reduce the time people can be detained in police cells. The Allan Government must heed the alarm bells and shift support away from incarceration and into housing and community-based supports that address the real needs that bring people into contact with the criminal legal system in the first place.”
Quotes attributable to Louisa Gibbs, CEO of Federation of Community Legal Centres:
“It’s clear that police cells are not a viable solution for extended periods of custody. They were not designed to house people in this way and the Supreme Court has been clear that no one should be in a police cell for more than 14 days.”
“Community legal centres strongly support the push to ensure any Victorian in custody experiences the same rights, regardless of the location they happen to be detained in.”
“Lack of positive action to address the ongoing issues associated with detaining people in police cells presents an unacceptable risk to the health and wellbeing of our fellow community members who are in custody, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
“Victoria’s community legal centres stand right alongside the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and will continue to advocate for custody and bail laws that are fair, safe and proven to reduce offending.”