States urged to review police practices after scathing report into missing and murdered Indigenous women

Policing practices should be reviewed in every State and Territory after a damning inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and children exposed “horrendous” cases that “disturbed” federal MPs. The landmark Senate probe handed down its final report on Thursday afternoon, delivering 10 recommendations in a “call to action” to finally counter the violence and abuse perpetrated against Indigenous women and the failures of authorities to properly respond to it. But WA Greens senator Dorinda Cox – who spearheaded the inquiry – blasted the recommendations as “weak” after it ignored calls for an urgent funding boost to frontline services and improved data gathering. Senator Cox successfully pushed in August 2022 for a Senator inquiry to examine the “horrific, extensive and unacceptable” rates of murdered and missing Indigenous women and children. The latest figures show Indigenous women are almost 8 times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous woman – part of a domestic violence epidemic Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described as a national crisis. The Senate committee – chaired by Liberal senator Paul Scarr - was confronted with harrowing cases of violence toward First Nations women and systemic failures of police and Government agencies in dozens of submissions and 10 public hearings. “In too many instances, the suspected or identified perpetrator has not been held to account for their shocking crime,” the report found. “What happened to these women and children is reprehensible. “Often, it was predictable and preventable. And it continues to happen.” WA Police was admonished by the committee for refusing to front up to a public hearing in Perth in October 2023, which re-examined the tragic case of 10-month-old Charlie Mullaley, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by his step-father in 2013. A Corruption and Crime Commission investigation into the Mullaley case identified failures by officers on the night the crime unfolded — which contributed to a delayed and ineffective response - but found they did not justify an opinion of serious misconduct. WA Police commissioner Col Blanch defended the no-show at the time and argued the way in which authorities dealt with women in domestic violence situations was “night and day from (when) Baby Charlie was tragically murdered”. Without singling out States or detailing specific cases, the committee said it “cannot overemphasise” how “disturbed” it was at examples of police practices presented during the inquiry. “In these studies, First Nations women and children in their most vulnerable moments were failed by the police services meant to protect them and their family,” the report said. In response, the committee recommended federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus task state and territory police ministers with reviewing policing practices in each jurisdiction and roll out a “best practice” model across Australia before the end of 2025. Ongoing and mandatory cultural awareness training for sworn and unsworn officers and recruitment of more First Nations officers – including into senior positions – should be considered. The inquiry also recommended States and Territories work with Indigenous families and communities on a “nationally significant” way to remember missing and murdered women and children. “To support healing, the committee considers it essential for governments, the media and the Australian community to better understand that First Nations women and children are being murdered and disappeared to a much greater extent than their non-Indigenous counterparts,” the report said. Senator Cox said the recommendations from the committee’s Labor-Coalition majority did not go far enough, combining with Greens justice spokesman David Shoebridge to propose an alternative set of solutions to the “national emergency”. While the majority report called for Government departments to implement a “sustainable funding mechanism” for support services, the Greens want urgent funding for Indigenous-led services to help women report cases of domestic abuse to police “in a way they will be both respected and heard”. It wants the Federal Government to clearly outline what types of data it expects jurisdictions to provide. “We simply don’t know how many First Nations women and children have been murdered and continue to be missing, because we don’t capture any of that necessary data,” Senator Cox said.