Answers Sought Over Why Charges Haven’t Been Laid Over Kumanjayi White’s Custody Death

The family of deceased man Kumanjayi White has this week initiated legal proceedings in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to ascertain which NT police employee decided not to press charges against two officers, who’d wrestled the 24-year-old Warlpiri man with disabilities to the ground in a supermarket in Mparntwe-Alice Springs and held him there until he died.

This follows the family having spent 12 months asking for answers about how it came to pass that White did lose his life in such a sudden and preventable way, until, on the eve of the first anniversary of his death, the NT Director of Public Prosecutions and a delegation of NT police travelled to the remote community of Lajamanu and dropped it on them, with no explanations as to why.

Kumanjayi White’s grandfather Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves makes certain that the family do not trust the internal police process. The Warlpiri elder’s requests for updates on the inquiry into the death of his jaja-grandson were repeatedly denied. And after the family came to understand that the decision was made within the NT Police Force, the National Justice Project is representing them in court.

Occurring on 27 March 2025, White’s death in custody transpired at a point when the crisis that is Aboriginal deaths in custody had surged to its highest numbers since records began being taken in 1979-80, and within the first year of the Finocchiaro Country Liberal government taking office in the NT, which is a period that’s been marked by a law-and-order drive targeting First Peoples.

The National Justice Project explains that despite the family now understanding that the decision not to prosecute the officers was made internally by NT police, it had been presented to the family in a manner which gave the impression that it had been due to the NT DPP. So, they’re now seeking clarification on the decisionmaker’s identity, before considering whether to challenge the outcome.

Dismissed without explanation

“Kumanjayi White’s family has waited for more than a year for answers,” outlined National Justice Project chief executive George Newhouse. “Instead, they were told that no one would be prosecuted, without any proper explanation of who made that decision or how it was reached.”

“The refusal to provide this basic information compounds the family’s grief and reinforces the concern they raised from the outset: police should not be left to investigate police and then make decisions about whether one of their own officers should be prosecuted without giving the family of a deceased person any reasons for that decision,” the lawyer continued.

The case appears to have involved a misunderstanding between White and a store security guard over shoplifting, which then saw two plainclothes police officers intervene, to wrestle White to the ground and then hold him down in the prone position until he stopped breathing.

Despite strong calls for an independent inquiry into the matter, NT police conducted the investigation internally. The authorities further knocked back calls for the CCTV footage of the incident to be released. And the inquiry also included seeking interstate legal advice, along with engaging an independent use-of-force expert, who, it was revealed in March, was from the Queensland police.

“The family is also entitled to ask how a decision concerning possible criminal charges arising from a death involving police came to be made within the police force, rather than transparently by an independent prosecuting authority,” Newhouse underscored. “The apparent institutional conflict requires a clear explanation and proper safeguards.”

The crisis in custody deaths

Aboriginal deaths in custody have always been an issue in Australia. But despite numerous inquiries, this crisis is continuing to worsen. The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody released its final report in April 1991, with 339 recommendations being made and then largely ignored. And since the handing down of the report, 641 more First Nations deaths in custody have occurred.

As the Royal Commission determined, custodial deaths occur in the custody of police, corrections or youth justice authorities. Such deaths include those resulting from “traumatic injuries sustained or by lack of proper care”. Deaths occurring during police operations in the field are also custody deaths, as are those happening during an attempt to prevent a detainee from escaping custody.

Deaths in custody occurring after Australian police have wrestled a civilian to the ground and held them face down in the prone position are not uncommon. There are numerous examples of these occurring when law enforcement officers have been restraining an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander individual. However, this practice and outcome are by no means confined to Indigenous people.

The Finocchiaro government took office in August 2024, and it has since been progressing tough-on-crime measures and new policies that specifically target the Aboriginal population of the territory and in particular, Indigenous youth. So, by February 2025, there were 40 First Nations people, on average, being taken into the custody of NT police on a daily basis.

White’s death also followed the 2019 killing of Warlpiri Luritja teen Kumanjayi Walker by NT police constable Zachary Rolfe. Walker and White were both from the remote community of Yuendumu. Despite Rolfe having fired two shots directly into Walker’s ribcage, as his partner was on top of him, this was found not to constitute murder, manslaughter or even “violent act causing death”.

Requiring those answers

“We said from day one that we did not trust this process,” Uncle Ned made clear on Wednesday. “Now the authorities keep pointing at each other and none will take any responsibility or speak straight to us. Police point to the DPP. The DPP points back to police. Nobody will tell us who actually made the decision.”

Newhouse explained to the ABC that the type of case that the White family has filed involves administrative law, and it allows constituents to seek a review of decisions made by government agencies, and the family further has the right to such information under the NT Charter of Victims’ Rights.

The lawyer added that depending on the outcome of the current litigation, the family may challenge the decision not to press charges in the courts.

NT police commissioner Martin Dole told the press the day after the announcement not to press charges was made in March that the cause of White’s death remains unknown, and questions about this would be considered when the NT Corners Court conducts the inquest into his death. Coronial inquiries are required after a death in custody, as per Royal Commission recommendation.

“Kumanjayi was my jaja and his life was violently cut short. We deserve to know all the information about his death and about the process, including who decided that no one should be charged and why,” Uncle Ned said in ending.

“We will keep fighting for a genuinely independent investigation.”

Images taken from the Yapakurlangu Warnkaru Matters campaign