Racism complaint is a ‘positive step’: NT police boss
Three serving Aboriginal police officers have lodged a complaint against the Northern Territory government and police commissioner, alleging racial discrimination over a 20-year period.
The complaint, lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission, alleges racial vilification and derision, and an unequal system of pay and promotion.
Sydney-based law firm Levitt Robinson lodged the complaint on the officers’ behalf.
“(Aboriginal Community Police Officers) have been subject to racist conduct since their position was invented,” lawyer Dana Levitt told AAP.
“A lot of them have complained about the treatment to which they were subject or they’ve seen other community members subject and nothing has been done about it.”
But Ms Levitt said these are not historical complaints.
“They are still very much of today,” she said.
“These are serving police members of the police force who have felt compelled to do this.”
Commissioner Michael Murphy said in a statement it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of the case, instead saying the police force was “invested in cultural reform”.
“What I can say is that it is a positive step for NT Police that members have the confidence to speak up about issues such as racism,” he said.
The complaint follows Mr Murphy’s public apology in August to Indigenous Territorians for past harms and injustices caused by members of the NT Police.
This apology was offensive to Aboriginal community police officers because it implied they had been complicit in the system, Ms Levitt said.
“It was a blanket apology about racist conduct by the NT Police,” she said.
“It didn’t distinguish between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members of the force … the way it was worded caught them up in the apology themselves, and they don’t have anything to apologise for.”
The lawyers said they plan to pursue the matter in the Federal Court if mediation is unsuccessful.
Australian Associated Press
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