AustLit

'This article contains information on deaths in custody and the violence experienced by First Nations people in our encounters with the Australian carceral system. It also contains references to and the names of people who are now deceased.

“They killed him.” 

David Dungay Jr died in Sydney’s Long Bay prison in 2015. In the opening scene of the documentary Incarceration Nation, Dunghutti woman Aunty Leetona Dungay, David’s mother, sets the scene for what viewers are about to witness. 

While David Dungay’s family’s campaign was not discussed in depth in the documentary, there’s no question why they have lodged a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee to seek accountability for the guards involved in his death. 

David Dungay’s death is one of about 500 Aboriginal deaths in custody since the Royal Commission report was released in 1991. No one has ever been held accountable for these deaths. 

Directed by Guugu Yimithirr man Dean Gibson, Incarceration Nation is relentless and emotionally demanding of its audience. This is due to scenes of explicit violence perpetrated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - especially children - by those in authority. It might be one of the most disturbing things you ever watch. 

For non-First Nations people, Incarceration Nation has the potential to shake the very core of your understanding of what it means to be Blak on this continent.'

'WARNING: This article contains content that may be distressing to some readers. 

An examination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience of the justice system in this country was always going to be intense. 

Last night, Incarceration Nation, a documentary exploring the dark history of Australia's punitive approach to First Nations people, and its modern day results, had viewers shocked. 

#IncacerationNation was one of the highest trending hashtags in the country last night, hitting no. 5 at its peak, just below #TheVoiceAU. 

Take a look at some of the reactions below. '

'Content Warning: This article contains subject matter that some readers may find distressing. 

Every day, thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia wake up behind the bars of the country's prisons. Children live out their childhood in juvenile detention centres, hundreds of kilometres away from their family. Families continue to fight for justice and accountability for the deaths of their once imprisoned relatives, while the calls for solutions which empower Indigenous Australians to drive the change needed get louder.

Told by First Nations people; experts, academics and those impacted by the justice system, documentary Incarceration Nation lays bare the story of the continued systemic injustice and inequality experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on their own land.'