A warning this next story contains the image of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of his family. After the long-awaited coronial findings into the 2019 death of Aboriginal teenager Kumanjayi Walker were handed down this week.
00:00On the basketball court where a young Kuminjai Walker would have played, kids enjoy a sunny day in Yundamu.
00:09As the dust settles on the coroner's report into the death of the 19 year old in the youth justice space,
00:17the findings and recommendations are being examined closely.
00:21We've just clearly seen from this current coronial inquest that the deterrence and the rehabilitation doesn't work in prison.
00:29Doesn't work in custody.
00:32In the years since the inquest began, the age of criminal responsibility has been lowered and bail for alleged young offenders reeled in.
00:41We are seeing this come, this sweeping across the country and Northern Territory at the moment is winning the race to the bottom.
00:49As the report notes, Kuminjai Walker's early life was marred by repeated exposure to domestic violence, substance abuse and neglect.
00:57First charged with criminal offending at just 13 years old, his offending then worsened.
01:03After years in and out of custody, he disengaged from school and struggled with addiction.
01:08The Northern Territory's Children's Commissioner says Kuminjai's experience is one reflected time and time again among young offenders.
01:15Many of them are in care or well known to the child protection system.
01:19Many of them present with unmet disability, mental health and trauma needs.
01:23The coroner acknowledged it was beyond the scope of the inquest to make recommendations about youth detention centres.
01:30But she did note, it seems very clear that detention neither deterred nor rehabilitated Kuminjai.
01:37Those in the youth justice space hope the report will signal a change in direction to a CLP government going hard on young offenders.
01:45There's clearly a belief that they've got a mandate to be tougher on these young people.
01:50But as I said, the evidence goes against that.
01:53With further changes to the Territory's Youth Justice Act foreshadowed later this month,
01:58key stakeholders including the Children's Commissioner say they're yet to be consulted.
02:03While it's been described as a landmark inquest, the true impact of this coronial now rests in the hands of those with the power to implement change.
02:13The government did not confirm whether they would meet with stakeholders regarding the coroner's recommendations.
