Restoring order: Crime prevention, policing and local justice initiatives in Queensland’s Indigenous communities.

Source: (2009) Brisbane Qld, Australia: Crime and Misconduct Commission.

In conducting our inquiry, which was triggered by the events following the death of Mulrunji
in the watch-house on Palm Island in 2004 and a riot against police occurring in Aurukun in
2007, we have sought to give fairly comprehensive consideration to the difficult issues relating
to policing, crime and the criminal justice system in Queensland’s Indigenous communities.
In particular, the views provided through our community consultations and consultations with
police have been very important to our inquiry — and we have tried to listen carefully to these
views. We have also made efforts to inform our arguments and recommendations through
evidence in so far as it is possible, including through analysis of relevant data relating to
Queensland’s Indigenous communities and consideration of the available research.
Although the level of research and policy activity in this area is high, policing issues and the
crime and disorder problems being faced by Indigenous communities do not appear to be
abating. This means that close attention is warranted to research evidence and the policy
approaches that have been taken previously, so that we can improve on them. We begin this
task by providing in Chapter 2 a broad overview of the last 20 years of Indigenous policy and
initiatives relevant to our inquiry. (excerpt)