PROJECT | First Nations Justice

In 2014, Ms Dhu, a 22-year-old Yamatji woman with her whole life ahead of her, was locked up for unpaid fines. Three days later, she died a cruel and inhuman death in police custody.

The Human Rights Law Centre supported her family in the coronial inquest into her death.

Working with the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia and supporting Ms Dhu’s mother and grandmother, we secured the release of the harrowing footage that proved that Ms Dhu was hideously mistreated in her final hours.

The footage was unbearable to watch. Ms Dhu was mocked, ignored or dismissed by the very people who had a duty to care for her. She was paralysed, was dragged from her cell and slung into the back of a police wagon, with an officer calling “shut up” moments before she died from pneumonia and septicemia – infections that had lodged in a fractured rib, one of the many injuries she sustained throughout a violent relationship.

It was made worse by the fact her grandmother had called the police station twice over the three days to check that her granddaughter was OK. Each time she was told that Ms Dhu was fine.

Ms Dhu’s family wanted the world to know the truth about her death. The footage highlighted the critical need to prevent future deaths in custody. 

The coronial inquest into Ms Dhu’s death provided strong findings that sparked the beginning of major law reform in Western Australia. Recommendations included that jail should no longer be an option for non-payment of fines and that Western Australia introduce a custody notification service.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have been disproportionately locked up and harmed by imprisonment in lieu of being able to pay fines. The Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia described the laws as “criminalising the effects of racism, poverty and disadvantage.”

After six years of advocacy in 2020, WA police no longer had the power to lock up people who cannot pay their fines with the passing of the Fines, Penalties and Infringement Notices Enforcement Amendment Bill 2019.

This will ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have access to a life‑saving custody notification system, and are not needlessly locked up for unpaid fines.