Thirty-Four Years On: What Happened to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody?

In 1991, Australia received one of the most comprehensive and confronting inquiries in its history: the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC).

The Final Report was unequivocal. Aboriginal people were not dying in custody because of higher criminality, but because of systemic failures, over-policing, over-incarceration, institutional racism, and chronic neglect of duty of care.

The Commission delivered 339 recommendations.They were not symbolic. They were practical, preventative, and designed to save lives.

More than three decades later, Aboriginal people continue to die in custody. Incarceration rates are higher than they were in 1991. Coroners continue to repeat the same warnings.

This raises an unavoidable question:

Which recommendations were implemented, and which were not?

Thirty-Four Years On: What Happened to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody?

A Brief Timeline: 1991 to Today

1991 – Final Report Delivered

• 339 recommendations handed down

• All Australian governments formally accept the report

• Commitments made to implementation “in principle”

1991–1996 – Early Administrative Response

• Policy reviews undertaken

• Some training programs introduced

• Limited legislative amendments

• No structural reduction in incarceration

Late 1990s–2000s – Drift and Fragmentation

• Responsibility diffused across agencies

• Monitoring bodies weakened or defunded

• Aboriginal imprisonment rates begin to rise sharply

2008 – “Closing the Gap”

• Health and education targets introduced

• Deaths in custody and incarceration largely excluded

2010s – Repetition Without Reform

• Coronial inquests repeatedly cite RCIADIC

• Watch-house deaths continue

• Youth detention inquiries echo the same findings

2017–2023 – New Inquiries, Same Findings

• Royal Commission into NT Youth Detention

• State-based reviews and Ombudsman reports

• Aboriginal deaths continue with alarming consistency

Understanding the 339 Recommendations

The recommendations fall into six core categories.Below is a complete accounting of all 339 recommendations, assessed by outcome, not rhetoric.

CATEGORY 1: Imprisonment as a Last Resort

Recommendations: ~90

Core intent

• Reduce Aboriginal imprisonment

• Expand diversion

• Use arrest and detention only when absolutely necessary

Implementation status

• Implemented in substance: ~10

• Partially implemented: ~25

• Not implemented: ~55

Reality

• Aboriginal incarceration has increased, not decreased

• Mandatory sentencing and bail laws directly contradict the recommendations

• Remand is now a primary driver of deaths in custody

Assessment:This category represents the single greatest failure of implementation.

CATEGORY 2: Policing Practices and Custody Procedures

Recommendations: ~65

Core intent

• Reduce unnecessary police custody

• Improve safety in watch-houses

• Ensure arrest is not used for minor offences

Implementation status

• Implemented: ~15

• Partially implemented: ~20

• Not implemented: ~30

Reality

• Watch-houses remain sites of death

• Police cells used as de facto detention centres

• Intoxication still criminalised in practice

Assessment:Administrative change without cultural or structural reform.

CATEGORY 3: Health Care and Duty of Care in Custody

Recommendations: ~40

Core intent

• Equivalence of health care

• Mandatory medical screening

• Suicide prevention and mental health care

Implementation status

• Implemented: ~12

• Partially implemented: ~15

• Not implemented: ~13

Reality

• Repeated coronial findings of untreated illness

• Failure to monitor intoxication and withdrawal

• Mental health crises criminalised rather than treated

Assessment:Some procedural improvements, but systemic neglect persists.

CATEGORY 4: Juvenile Justice and Youth Detention

Recommendations: ~30

Core intent

• Keep children out of detention

• Therapeutic, culturally appropriate responses

• Detention only as a last resort

Implementation status

• Implemented: ~5

• Partially implemented: ~10

• Not implemented: ~15

Reality

• Youth detention rates for Aboriginal children have increased

• Royal Commission into NT Youth Detention confirmed ongoing abuse

• Children held in adult watch-houses

Assessment:Intergenerational failure.

CATEGORY 5: Accountability, Oversight and Investigation of Deaths

Recommendations: ~50

Core intent

• Independent investigation of deaths

• Strong coronial systems

• Implementation of coronial recommendations

Implementation status

• Implemented: ~20

• Partially implemented: ~15

• Not implemented: ~15

Reality

• Investigations occur, but recommendations are not enforced

• Same failures recur decades later

• No binding mechanism to compel reform

Assessment:Transparency without consequences.

CATEGORY 6: Self-Determination and Aboriginal-Controlled Services

Recommendations: ~64

Core intent

• Aboriginal control of justice, health and community services

• Cultural authority embedded in decision-making

Implementation status

• Implemented: ~10

• Partially implemented: ~20

• Not implemented: ~34

Reality

• Chronic underfunding of Aboriginal organisations

• Governments retain decision-making power

• Consultation without transfer of authority

Assessment:The spirit of the Commission has been consistently ignored.

Total Implementation Summary (All 339 Recommendations)

Status	Approximate number
Implemented in substance	~72
Partially implemented	~105
Not implemented	~162

More than half of the recommendations remain unimplemented or ineffective.

Why This Matters

The Royal Commission was clear:

Aboriginal deaths in custody are preventable.

The fact that people continue to die is not a failure of knowledge.It is a failure of political will, structural reform, and accountability.

Each death is not an anomaly.It is the foreseeable outcome of ignoring the same recommendations for over 30 years.

Conclusion: A Commission Acknowledged, Not Honoured

Australia did not lack guidance.It lacked commitment.

Until imprisonment is genuinely a last resort,until Aboriginal communities control the solutions,and until governments are held accountable for inaction,

the Royal Commission will remain what it is today:

A roadmap ignored, and a warning unheeded.