After the pretty shocking Four Corners episode on Monday night about abuse in Northern Territory youth detention centres, and Malcolm Turnbull‘s announcement of a royal commission, many – especially in the Indigenous community – are making clear that they absolutely knew about these things are were talking about them long before the episode.
Like the Koori Mail, who reported on this in September last year:
This is why we need black media. Front page of @koorimailnews last year when report was first handed down pic.twitter.com/ncWTCCocgH
— Amy McQuire (@amymcquire) July 26, 2016
And it’s not just the NT. Systemic failures in the juvenile detention system have been alleged for absolutely yonks, and now that Four Corners has brought the shocking imagery to the eyes of the general public and forced them to look at it, more allegations are bubbling to the surface.
The ABC reports today that former workers within Queensland‘s juvenile detention system are claiming that they were sacked for trying to expose the abuse that occurred within the centres they worked at, and that any royal commission ought to expand its remit to include states other than the NT.
Several ex-workers say excessive force was used against children, including once incident in which a child was allegedly put in a headlock and hit in the face with a steel can.
Indigenous barrister Joshua Creamer told the ABC that the royal commission should include other states where such incidents have been reported.
“What you’re being told and what I’m hearing about what happens in Queensland is similar to things I’m hearing happening in other states,” he said.
“So why should we restrict this royal commission to Northern Territory only?”
Source: ABC.
Photo: Four Corners.
