By Brooke Fryer, Stephanie Boltje, Ali Russell and Kirstie Wellauer of the ABC's indigenous affairs team
An Aboriginal flag is flown during a Black Lives Matter protest in Perth. Photo: AFP / TREVOR COLLENS
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the names of people who have died. This story contains some confronting details.
"Appalling and shocking." That's how a Senate committee has described the stories it heard during the two-year inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children.
It heard there had been "little, if any, justice" for those victims and their families.
Among the recommendations presented this week, the committee called for a widespread overhaul of police practices, a culturally appropriate and "nationally significant" way to recognise the missing and murdered, a First Nations Commissioner-type role on family violence, and an audit of the attorney-general's department regarding its commitments to First Nations women and children.
The committee acknowledged the strength shown by families who told their stories that were "difficult to hear and confronting."
For Yamatji-Noongar woman and Greens senator Dorinda Cox, who put forward the motion in parliament to establish the inquiry in 2021, this inquiry was personal.
"I brought my own experience into this committee's process ... My own cousin was murdered by a man in her hometown in regional Western Australia," she told the Senate on Thursday.
But the former Aboriginal Police Liaison Officer said the report did not go far enough.
"People shared with us the most painful experiences of their lives, with some hope that something can be done to prevent the suffering in the future," she said.
"We're extremely concerned that the report's recommendations are not reflective of the urgent change and investment that is actually required."
Urgent calls for widespread reform of police practices
"The committee remains gravely concerned about the evidence it received in relation to policing practices, notwithstanding the reforms in some jurisdictions," the report said.
The committee recommended the attorney-general task the Police Ministers Council - all police ministers across the country - to review existing police practices and "harmonise" the best culturally safe practices by the end of 2025.
The committee said it heard that the discrimination experienced by First Nations people at the hands of police and criminal justice systems "manifests in substandard (racist, sexist, disrespectful, unprofessional and negligent) responses to missing persons reports and homicide investigations" to this day.
The report states that police forces, prosecutors and coroners maintained before the inquiry "that everyone is treated equally".
The family of Mona Lisa, 16, and Cindy Smith, 15, were among dozens of families, advocates and organisations who made submissions to the inquiry.
After Mona Lisa and Cindy were killed in 1987 in a car crash, the drunk driver who also sexually assaulted Cindy's body was acquitted of all charges.
After decades of campaigning by the family, a coronial inquest into their girls' deaths was restarted 35 years later.
The coroner concluded that "the existence of racial bias" had impacted the initial police investigation, which was marred by a litany of failures.
The family said they were not treated fairly by the police or the justice system.
"I pray that we find a solution, and I pray that we make it right so nobody else has to go through this, because nobody deserves it," Fiona Smith, the big sister of Mona Lisa said.
Fiona was just 17 years old when the initial police investigation took place.
"All I know is that you're (the police) are there to help my family. Your job was to help my sister, help my cousin, you know, find out the truth, but you ignored them. You ignored us. You ignored my mum," she told the ABC's Indigenous Affairs Team.
The report called for changes to police practices across the country. (File image) Photo: 123RF
Lack of trust in police 'deeply troubling'
The committee repeatedly heard that distrust of police persists, often leading First Nations women and children to not seek assistance "even in the most desperate of circumstances".
"This is deeply troubling to the committee. It must be addressed," it said.
The report called for an independent process to deal with complaints into police conduct and investigations.
Also noted was the many previous recommendations to prevent violence against First Nations women that have gone unheeded.
"In spite of decades of inquiries and reviews, the necessary responses and reforms have failed to eventuate or to uphold the right to live free from violence. It defies reason why this remains the case," it said.
Inquiry calls for scrutiny on government spending
The report called for the Australian National Audit Office to give serious consideration to auditing the attorney-general's department to see whether they are "effectively delivering on the commitments" including the Closing the Gap target to reduce family violence and the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children.
The committee also recommended the appointment of a First Nations person to a commissioner-type role within the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission, with the funding and power to advocate on behalf of and address violence against First Nations women and children.
The report also highlighted the need for adequately funding local solutions led by First Nations women who know their communities best.
Hannah McGlade is a Nyungar human rights lawyer and academic from Curtin University who made a submission to the inquiry.
Speaking to the ABC on Thursday, she said she was happy with the recommendations.
"I think it's really important that the frontline family violence legal services are actually funded because we understand people are turning people away," she said.
The inquiry's report acknowledged that just "throwing money" was not the answer, but that a sustainable funding mechanism must be established for support services, prioritising Aboriginal community-controlled organisations that demonstrate evidence-based primary prevention initiatives.
"Certainly there are issues that we need to do better at, in particular Aboriginal women's experiences in the legal system," McGlade said.
This story was originally published by ABC News.
