Indigenous Australians

The Aboriginal Flag will permanently fly on the Sydney Harbour Bridge if Labor is elected to government in March 2019. Currently, the Aboriginal flag flies on top of the Australian icon for only 15 days of the year, on occasions such as Australia Day and during NAIDOC week and Reconciliation Week.

On 20 September this year, Tane Chatfield died in custody at Tamworth Correctional Centre. He was 22 years old. A few months earlier, in August, a 47-year-old Indigenous man was found unconscious in his cell at Adelaide City Watch House. In July this year, father of five Eric Whittaker died of a brain haemorrhage at Parklea Correctional Centre, with varying accounts of his death given to his family. Eric's cousin David Dungay had also died in custody, two years before. These men are just the latest in a shamefully long line of Indigenous Australians to die in custody. Of course, behind each of these tragic cases lies a hard truth, one best told in numbers.

National Reconciliation Week is an opportunity for Australians to stop and reflect on the unfinished business of reconciliation with Indigenous Australians. As a nation we must acknowledge the actions of the past that have brought so much pain to Indigenous Australians and we must recognise the ongoing disadvantage that they face.

I call on the Minister for Corrections to launch a full inquiry into youth detention. We want to know how we can stop failing our young people.

Jo Haylen, Member for Summer Hill, today called for a broad inquiry into youth detention practices in NSW after leaked documents showed children have been locked up in isolation for as much as 22 hours a day.  

Jo Haylen MP, Member for Summer Hill, has called on the Government to commit to Change the Record’s Blueprint to close the gap in indigenous incarceration by 2040. 

Today is a day to celebrate the proud and enduring culture of indigenous Australians, a culture that stretches back over 40,000 years and which represents the oldest living culture in the world.

I was proud to host some of Summer Hill's most outstanding Indigenous students this week and to announce Isaac Bamblett of De La Salle College Ashfield as the Summer Hill Aboriginal Student of the Year.

A motion calling on the Government to engage with the catastrophic levels of indigenous incarceration and to ensure that the abuse shown on Four Corners does not and cannot happen in New South Wales.

Member for Summer Hill, Jo Haylen, has called on the Abbott and Baird governments to stop squabbling over funding arrangements for the Custody Notification Service (CNS) and provide certainty to the support line for indigenous people in police custody.