Being told her brother David Roberts had committed suicide while in Grafton jail has made Widjabul Wybal woman and community organiser Cindy Roberts angry. Being told that the cameras in the jail were not working at the time of his death made her even more angry.

Now, Cindy wants to see big changes in the legal system – and she is calling the Lismore community to join with her tomorrow at 12pm (Saturday, April 10) to rally as part of a national day of action that highlights the shocking lack of reform that’s taken place in the 30 years since the final report was released on the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody.

“When my family were told my brother was dead and committed suicide, it didn’t make sense,” Cindy said. “I knew he had a life.

"Murdered"

“The coroner said it was suspicious and we knew he was murdered. The people who were in prison at the time who knew what had happened are now dead too.

“He was found hung in a cell, but how could he hang himself 10 feet up? He was still alive when they brought him to hospital, but he was in a morgue bag when he left.

“There was no justice back then and there is still no justice now.”

Royal Commission 30 years on

“It’s been thirty years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody made recommendations and nothing has changed.

"The core recommendations have not been implemented - 30 years on and the situation is worse than ever.

“Our people are still dying."

“There have been more than 440 Aboriginal deaths in custody since the report was released and five have occurred in the last two months. 

“The government has failed to implement laws to protect our lives.”

What needs to change?

“We need to see constitutional reforms made so that black people have a voice in our government and can protect our people and save lives,” Cindy said.

“If we don’t have these changes, the murders will continue.

“White Australia was built on racist foundations and we have nothing to lose if we have another referendum. In the 1967 Referendum, our ancestors fought for changes and now we have rights because of them.

Referendum

“We need another referendum to see us have a voice in parliament.”

In 2017, the Uluru Statement From The Heart was created, which Cindy said was a statement that brought all of the Indigenous tribes of Australia together to speak as one voice and work towards a Treaty.

Treaty

However, before any sort of Treaty can be made between Indigenous people and the Australian government, Cindy said reforms in law must first be made.

“The government should be meeting us halfway and creating reform from the top down – from the constitution, down to the grass roots of our communities,” she said.

“If we have a voice, a platform in government, we can do what is best for our people.

“We can take care of the lives of our people – we know the we destruction caused in our communities from alcohol. Our people grow up around drugs and alcohol and this fuels rapes, crime, intergenerational trauma – and our people end up in jail - and dead.

“Enough is enough. This needs to end now."

“We need to stop the high incarceration rates of Indigenous people and stop children being taken away and the resulting intergenerational trauma," Cindy said.

Rally

Saturday’s rally begins at 12pm followed by a march to the Lismore police station at about 1.30pm. 

 Cindy has invited along Thomas Mayor - a passionate advocate of the Uluru Statement and the three reforms contained within it. 

Thomas will talk about the Statement and its invitation to all Australians - to "walk with us" and support the proposed reforms to create a better future for the entire Australian nation. 

Other speakers include local Aboriginal men who will tell about their experiences of being in jail.

At the rally, Cindy said she will record people’s recommendations to put forward to government to see the end of Aboriginal deaths in custody and help bring about constitutional reform.

“We are all in this together and black lives do matter,” Cindy said.