The litany of death: a deep futures critique of the Australian Royal Commission into aboriginal deaths in custody

Abstract

This article applies the futures research methodology called Causal Layered Analysis to the Australian Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Specifically the method is used to analyse the 339 recommendations of this Royal Commission that examined the causes of some 99 Aboriginal Deaths in Custody during the nine-year period from 1/1/1980. Spanning a generational period of 20 years, 10 of which since the multi million dollar Royal Commission and multi-multi million-dollar implementation process were put in place, aboriginal deaths in custody remain at the same rate. Conclusions are drawn about the inquiry, its inability to access deeper layers of cross-cultural causation and the separate implementation process. Further the failure of public administration in implementing the recommendations are also explored. Finally an ‘act of recovery’ is proposed to help us learn to prevent this happening again.