A “deeply racist and hateful” picture drawn by prison officers has left an Aboriginal inmate traumatised and forced a public apology from the head of ACT corrective services.
The image was drawn on a whiteboard in a room accessible to custodial and non-custodial staff at the Alexander Machonochie detention centre in Canberra, in May 2018.
The drawing depicts a man hanging, while a boat sails past. One of the people on the boat says “yay” while looking at the hanging man. The name below the hanged man, which has been redacted, is of an Aboriginal inmate at the centre who has a disability.
A fellow Aboriginal inmate made a complaint to the ACT civil and administrative tribunal (Acat) after hearing guards at the centre laughing about it. The inmate, known to the Acat as Detainee A, said he felt highly protective of the man, whose disabilities and difficult life story means he remains unaware of the existence of the drawing.
“The reference to the boat cuts deeply given the history of this country and what has happened to our people since colonisation,” Detainee A said in a statement released by his lawyers.
“It is distressing to know that, despite all of the reports into Aboriginal deaths in custody, that such conduct persists. This is deeply racist and hateful. It is hard for me to articulate just how terrible the impact of this blatant hate and racism has been on me.”
“The realisation that the people entrusted with our care think and behave in this way is frightening,” Detainee A said.
Detainee A’s lawyer said he has a history of serious trauma and self-harm and struggled to access the mental health treatment he needs within the AMC.
The ACT corrective services (ACTCS) commissioner, Jon Peach, offered an apology on Tuesday.
“It is my expectation that ACTCS employees act with integrity, decency and respect at all times.
“This type of behaviour is abhorrent and reflects badly on all those staff who do the right thing every day.
“Any staff member who cannot meet these basic expectations should rethink their career with ACTCS,” Peach said.
Corrective services is undergoing “significant reform”, Peach said, but the “vast majority of my staff are highly dedicated and professional”.
Lawyers for Detainee A said they have issued his statement because they were disappointed that ACT corrective services “did not acknowledge the racist nature of the image.”
“We are also concerned that the ACTCS have failed to produce any evidence of their attempts to investigate this incident or to identify the individuals responsible,” Canberra Community Law director Genevieve Bolton said.
“This image is more than a game of hangman. It represents the persistent racism that plagues our systems: the very systems that have resulted in the over-representation of Aboriginal people in prison, and the alarming rates of deaths in custody.”
The ACT minister for corrections and justice health, Shane Rattenbury, said he was personally appalled by the incident.
“It is deeply regrettable and frankly offensive. I have expressed my view to commissioner Peach that there is no place in ACTCS for these views or actions,” Rattenbury said.
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