Family of Tanya Day

Right now, across Australia, Aboriginal people are being killed by police.

We’d like to send our condolences to Kumanjayi Walker’s family today. Just this weekend, Kumanjayi, a young 19 year old Aboriginal man, was shot and killed by police in his own home.

No police officer has ever been held criminally responsible for an Aboriginal person’s death in custody, despite 100s of Aboriginal people dying in their care.

In our submissions to the Court, we argued that abolishing the offence of public drunkenness is not enough. That this alone will not prevent more Aboriginal people dying in custody.

To see change, police must be held accountable. For as long as the Government and the Courts let police act with bias and impunity, deaths in custody will continue.

We have told the Coroner that the two most important things for us are that she finds that racism was a cause of our mum’s death and that she refer the police who were supposed to care for our mum for criminal investigation.

Only by telling the truth will anything change.

As Aboriginal people, we see systemic racism and how it is built into the fabric of institutions like Victoria Police. We see how systems like police investigating police perpetuate impunity, and therefore fail to deliver truth and justice. The things we want most.

Our mum was a strong, proud and loving Yorta Yorta mother, grandmother, sister and Aunty. She deserved dignity. She should be alive today to see her grand children grow up.

At the time of mum’s death, Aboriginal women were 10 times more likely to be arrested for being drunk in public.

There is no doubt in our mind that Victoria Police are responsible for our mum’s death. That she died in custody because police targeted her for being an Aboriginal woman, and then ignored her and left her to die on the floor of a police cell.

Victoria police have still not apologised for our mum’s death. Without accountability, there will never be justice.