The First Nations Deaths In Custody Watch Committee was first registered on 7 January 2015, but its first annual report under that name was for 2017. It is the successor to the Deaths In Custody Watch Committee (WA) (DICWC WA), which was a social justice organisation operating from
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Western Australia from 1996 until it underwent a constitutional change early 2017. It is a Public Benevolent Institution whose main concern is
Aboriginal Australian deaths in custody.
History
The DICWC WA was first founded as one of several
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
-funded anti-deaths-in-custody "watch" groups across Australia, being the implementation of one of the recommendations of the 1991
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC).
The formation of the Watch Committee groups and the 1991 Royal Commission itself gained significant political momentum from the work of WA academic Jennifer Searcy, who in 1987 began publishing her "Campaign for the Prevention of Custodial Death" newsletter. This 1 page newsletter was mailed monthly at her own expense to thousands of high profile supporters including lawyers, journalists, academics, social justice campaigners, religious leaders, and politicians alike all across Australia. Her last newsletter was published shortly after the formation of DICWC WA group and constitute a public historical record of the callous treatment vulnerable people received in WA prisons.
The
Uniting Church of Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of ...
in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
was a founding "partner" in the formation of the DICWC WA.
From 1996 to 2004 the DICWC WA was funded via the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). After ATSIC was dismantled in 2004, the 2006 Board of the DICWC WA voted to continue the DICWC WA as a non-funded organisation.
The 1996-2006 period case files of the DICWC WA were, from 2006 until 2011, stored in the garage of a long-term supporter, and transferred to the
Battye Library in 2014. The transfer of the files lead to the creation of the DICWC WA archive at Battye Library, which Bruce Campbell, as Secretary and then Chairperson, would on occasion add to with non-case material such as Board minutes and rally fliers.
From 2006 on, the DICWC WA functioned primarily as a
lobby group
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
aiming to pressure the
State and Federal Governments into taking practical action against deaths in custody. The main DICWC WA tactic was organising public rallies on significant days, such as the 25th anniversary of the release of the 1991 report of Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody.
In August 2016, it responded to an article by
Marcia Langton
Marcia Lynne Langton (born 1951) is an Australian academic. she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Regarded as one of Australia's top intellectuals, L ...
in ''
The Monthly
''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...
'' on the topic of Indigenous women in prison.
References
Further reading
* - Video taken by Mervyn Eades
External links
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*{{Citation , author1=Deaths in Custody Watch Committee (WA) Inc , title=Deaths in Custody Watch Committee (WA) Inc , date=1997, format=Text and graphics
lectronic resource, publisher=The Committee , url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/29272389
Organisations serving Indigenous Australians