Page 758 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 19 March 2019
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provide the specific arrangements for the notifications of next of kin. This policy prioritises the timeliness of notifications of next of kin in all instances where a detainee is admitted to hospital.
Corrective Services acknowledges that conveying information to next of kin about a serious injury to a detainee is an emotionally sensitive matter. In such cases due consideration is given to the cultural sensitivities of the notification process. Corrective Services will use an Indigenous liaison officer in such cases wherever possible. However, the unpredictability of critical incidents and the need for timely advice to next of kin means that the availability of an Indigenous liaison officer is not always possible.
Under the 2017 MOU between ACT Policing and ACT Corrective Services, ACT Policing have primary responsibility for coordinating notification of the next of kin of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander death in custody. Corrective Services provide where appropriate a designated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative from Corrective Services to accompany police or the ACT Coroner’s Court representative to provide cultural support when notifying next of kin. This notification process acknowledges that at all times notification should be given in a sensitive manner respecting the culture and interests of the persons being notified.
The ACT government recognises that ongoing consultation and collaboration with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community is required to continue to operate within the spirit of recommendation 19 of the national report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The ACT government is satisfied that the current Corrective Services practice for notifying next of kin when a serious incident or illness occurs is appropriate for all detainees at this time.
I take this opportunity to thank the inspector for his report and its findings and recommendation. The independent oversight provided by the inspector is important to build and maintain public confidence in the ACT’s correctional system and helps contribute to the continuous improvement of the care, treatment and safety of all detainees.
I table the government response in the Assembly and present a copy of the statement:
Report of a Review of a Critical Incident by the ACT Inspector of Correctional Services—Assault of a detainee at the Alexander Maconochie Centre on 23 May 2018—
Government response.
Ministerial statement, 19 March 2019.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
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