Newsletter date: 15 June 2015
Contents:
* Urgent Action: ALS - Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT): Save The CNS
* News Analysis: Amy McQuire, New Matilda: Anti-Deaths In Custody Service Could Disappear After Federal Funding Cut
* Bio: Amy McQuire - New Matilda: https://newmatilda.com/users/amy-mcquire
* About: New Matilda - About Us: https://newmatilda.com/about-us
* Fund New Matilda: https://newmatilda.com/be-a-supporter
* News Analysis: Australian Lawyers for Human Rights: ALHR calls for funding of the Custody Notification Service (CNS)
* Support ALHR: https://alhr.org.au/donate/
* News Analysis: Eugene Schofield-Georgeson, The Conversation: NSW ditches another protection for Indigenous people in custody
* Bio: Eugene Schofield-Georgeson - The Conversation
* News Analysis: NSW Council for Civil Liberties: CCL calls for continuation of Custody Notification Service (CNS) funding
* Video: YouTube: ALS Custody Notification Service under threat: ABC News
* News Analysis: The Stringer: Custody Notification Service prevents Aboriginal deaths in police cell custody
* News Analysis: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Premier Barnett, you promised - In the name of Ms Dhu, where are the Custody Notification Service & the end to jailing fine defaulters?
* Bio: Gerry Georgatos - The Stringer
* About: The Stringer - About Us: http://thestringer.com.au/about-us
* Fund The Stringer: http://thestringer.com.au/fund-the-stringer
* WGAR Background: Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal deaths in custody
* WGAR Background: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget
WGAR News Public Google Group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news
WGAR News - Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
- Urgent Action
ALS - Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT): Save The CNS
http://www.alsnswact.org.au/pages/save-the-cns
"The Custody Notification Service (CNS) will be unfunded as of 30 June 2015. Please help #savetheCNS. There have been no Aboriginal deaths in police cell custody in NSW and ACT since the CNS began.
What you can do
> SIGN OUR PETITION to #savetheCNS or distribute hard copy versions of the petition in your local area
> WRITE A LETTER OR EMAIL, OR PHONE:
* Prime Minister Tony Abbott ...
* Nigel Scullion, Minister for Indigenous Affairs ...
* Your Local Member ... "
- Analysis / Opinion
New Matilda: Anti-Deaths In Custody Service Could Disappear After Federal Funding Cut
https://newmatilda.com/2015/05/29/anti-deaths-custody-service-could-disa...
29 May 15: "A program credited with preventing Aboriginal deaths in custody is under threat, with the Abbott government urged to rethink its decision. Amy McQuire reports. The Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT is campaigning to save a vital service after it lost funding under the Coalition’s controversial Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS). New South Wales is the only state to have implemented a Custody Notification Service (CNS), a recommendation of the 1991 Deaths in Custody Royal Commission. ... " By Amy McQuire, a senior reporter with New Matilda. A Darumbul woman from central Queensland, Amy McQuire is the former editor of the National Indigenous Times and Tracker
- Bio
Amy McQuire - New Matilda
https://newmatilda.com/users/amy-mcquire
- About
New Matilda - About Us
https://newmatilda.com/about-us
" ... The Funding Model: Our readers are our investors. New Matilda is predominantly reader-funded and remains fiercely independent, with no affiliation to any political party, lobby group or other media organisation. Become a New Matilda funder here: https://newmatilda.com/be-a-supporter
The Mission: We believe that robust media is fundamental to a healthy democracy - and there's never been a more important time for independent media in Australia. With shrinking media diversity, and huge changes underway in delivery, there are fewer and fewer outlets publishing independent-minded journalism like ours. ... "
- Subs Offer
New Matilda: Subscribe Then Pick An Aboriginal Business Or Charity To Receive Free New Matilda Advertising
https://newmatilda.com/2015/06/14/subscribe-then-pick-aboriginal-busines...
14 Jun 15: "Support independent media AND your favourite Aboriginal business or not-for-profit for less the cost of a cuppa a week." By Chris Graham
- News Analysis
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights: ALHR calls for funding of the Custody Notification Service (CNS)
https://alhr.org.au/alhr-calls-commonwealth-fund-cns/
" ... In our submission, failure to fund the CNS not only raises issues concerning the implementation of Royal Commission recommendations on custodial health and safety and prison experience, it would also therefore not be consistent with the spirit of Article 10(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 7 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The cost of funding the CNS phone line is only $526,000 per year whilst the cost of holding a juvenile in detention for one year is more than $240,000. ... "
- Donate
Support ALHR
https://alhr.org.au/donate/
"Help ALHR stand up for human rights in Australia. ALHR accepts no funding from governments or political organisations. We rely solely on the generosity of people like you. Please help us to raise awareness of international human rights law in Australia by donating today. ... "
- News Analysis
The Conversation: NSW ditches another protection for Indigenous people in custody
http://theconversation.com/nsw-ditches-another-protection-for-indigenous...
10 Jun 15: "The federal government is poised to abolish the Custody Notification Service in New South Wales through a funding cut on July 1 – for the sake of saving A$526,000 a year. For that modest amount, the service provides NSW with one of the most effective strategies in curbing Indigenous deaths in police custody. The service is a telephone hotline that provides Indigenous prisoners in police custody with personal and legal advice. It also ensures that they receive adequate health care while monitoring their treatment by police. ... " Author: Eugene Schofield-Georgeson, PhD Candidate, Macquarie Law School at Macquarie University
"Disclosure Statement: Eugene Schofield-Georgeson has worked as a Solicitor-Advocate for the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) and is affiliated with the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL)."
- Bio
Eugene Schofield-Georgeson - The Conversation
PhD Candidate, Macquarie Law School at Macquarie University
http://theconversation.com/profiles/eugene-schofield-georgeson-110676
"I am a practicing lawyer, specialising in criminal and evidence law. I am also a sessional academic in law at Macquarie University, where I am currently undertaking doctoral research in criminal law and procedure. ... Following this, I worked in private and public criminal law practice for a number of years. During this time, I mainly worked for an Aboriginal legal aid organisation in the Northern Territory. I now live and work in Sydney where I continue my involvement in law reform projects and grassroots campaigns."
- News Analysis
NSW Council for Civil Liberties: CCL calls for continuation of Custody Notification Service (CNS) funding
http://www.nswccl.org.au/cns_funding_letter
11 Jun 15: " ... CCL previously supported the campaign to 'Save the CNS' in 2013, and it is extremely disappointing that this essential notification service for indigenous people in custody is once again being threatened - particularly in the context of the recent report by Amnesty International that showed Australia incarcerates indigenous children at one of the highest rates in the developed world. It would reflect poorly on the Government's commitment to Closing the Gap and reversing the shameful over-representation of indigenous people in Australia's prisons if the CNS was to cease. ... "
- Video
YouTube: ALS Custody Notification Service under threat: ABC News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK_dU7w2uGQ
8 Jun 15: "The ALS Custody Notification Service (CNS) is funded until 30 June 2015. ABC News visited ALS offices in Redfern on 3 June 2015 to learn more about the CNS and how it not just a phone line, it's a lifeline."
- News Analysis
The Stringer: Custody Notification Service prevents Aboriginal deaths in police cell custody
http://thestringer.com.au/custody-notification-service-prevents-aborigin...
3 Jun 15: "The New South Wales Aboriginal Legal Services has stated that Government funding has not been renewed for the 24-hour legal advice and RU OK phone line which has prevented Aboriginal deaths in police cell custody since it began in NSW and ACT. In operation since 2000, the Custody Notification Service was a response to a recommendation from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody whereby Police must notify the Aboriginal Legal Service every time they detain or arrest an Aboriginal person in order for that person to receive early legal advice and a welfare check. Kane Ellis, Acting CEO of Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT says he’s disappointed the CNS is being overlooked by government again despite the success of the program. ... " By The Stringer
"Declaration of impartiality conflict of interest - The Stringer has been lobbying the Federal Government and the Western Australian Government for the roll-out of the CNS in WA and nationally."
- News Analysis
The Stringer: Premier Barnett, you promised - In the name of Ms Dhu, where are the Custody Notification Service & the end to jailing fine defaulters?
http://thestringer.com.au/premier-barnett-you-promise-in-the-name-of-ms-...
3 Jun 15: "The family of the 22-year-old Yamatji woman, Ms Dhu, who needlessly died in a Western Australian regional police watch-house in August last year, is still waiting for the State Government to lock in the date for the coronial inquest. Family members are still waiting for long overdue systemic changes and laws to be implemented that had they been in place at the time of Ms Dhu’s detainment would have saved her life. Grandmother, Carol Roe, said that the family is suffering while in its wait for promised systemic changes. "We are all waiting for the inquest, so the truth be known," said Ms Roe. "We are all waiting for the changes that were promised to us in the name of my granddaughter that will save the lives of our people." ... " By Gerry Georgatos
"The author of this article, Gerry Georgatos, declares an impartiality conflict of interest. He is a long-time custodial systems and deaths in custody researcher."
- Bio
Gerry Georgatos - The Stringer
http://thestringer.com.au/gerry-georgatos-contributing-editor-and-journa...
" ... His predominant work is in suicide prevention research and in unveiling racism and in articulating the ways forward. In 2011, he left a management background and the tertiary sector and found himself called upon to contribute as a volunteer journalist, predominately for The National Indigenous Times, and for The National Indigenous Radio Service, where his sustained coverage of stories led to positive outcomes and in 2012 won four national awards. ... Gerry is currently completing a PhD on Australian Custodial Systems and Australian Deaths in Custody. ... "
- About
About Us - The Stringer
http://thestringer.com.au/about-us
"The Stringer is an independent online news site, delivering free-to-access independent news to readers daily. We went live on February 20 and formally launched on February 25, 2013 at the Media at the Crossroads Conference at NSW Parliament’s Theatrette. The Stringer was founded by media academic and producer Jennifer Kaeshagen. ... "
- Donate
Fund The Stringer
http://thestringer.com.au/fund-the-stringer
"We know how much you like reading the news on The Stringer website. If you’d like to help us continue to shine a massive great big flood lamp on the political injustices of this country and, indeed, the world then please contribute whatever you feel able to using the form below. ... "
- Background
WGAR Background: Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal deaths in custody
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-justice-reinvestment...
(last updated: 14 June 2015)
WGAR Background: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-aboriginal-peoples-a...
(last updated: 14 June 2015)
- - -
WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
About WGAR News:
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'WGAR News' monitors the media, including alternative media, focusing on:
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