When you look at the bigger picture, the solution to ACT's systemic racism is obvious
19 February 2026
This story contains the name of an Aboriginal person who has died.
We've all heard the saying: if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ... then it's probably systemic racism.
You don't have to dig deep to find out ACT's public institutions, especially those linked to justice, have consistently been accused of bias and discrimination.
A 17-year-old Indigenous boy was on his way to visit family on November 12, 2025, when ACT police cars stopped the bus he was on. He was removed from the bus by armed police, and handcuffed before police realised he was the wrong person. The boy's aunties, Mikaila McEwan and Kristie Peters, told media he was mistakenly arrested and treated “less than human”.
Individual incidents and inquiries can be sidelined or forgotten, but when you put them all together the problem stares you in the face: racism, conscious or unconscious, has been normalised to the extent that it is deeply ingrained in our institutions.
Just look at the ACT's recent track record.
Tuck, an Australian who happened to have Zimbabwean roots, was arrested in his own apartment complex after a neighbour didn't believe he lived there and called police.
They arrived and detained him saying they suspected him because of his "behaviour". Tuck was handcuffed and taken to the paddy wagon, while officers searched his apartment for an ID.
And the year before that? An inquiry heard some victims of racism in Canberra were afraid to report incidents in case police wrongly assumed them to be perpetrators.
For example, police apprehended a boy described as "Middle Eastern" despite the fact that he was the target of racism from a woman.
The ACT Ombudsman's report said a comprehensive anti-racism training program should be mandatory for all members of ACT Policing, Corrective Services, Child and Youth Protection Services and Housing ACT.
All the times the ACT was called out for racism in 2025
In February, Howard Hall was the third Aboriginal person to die on ACT Corrective Services' watch within six months.
Three months later, the territory agreed to hold a board of inquiry into Aboriginal deaths in custody.
At the time, the ACT's own lawmakers acknowledged the deaths were consequences of systemic racism and racist structures. They said they would provide a start date for the inquiry on the last sitting day in September. It's November and we're still in the dark about when it will begin.
The last government commissioned the Jumbunna report into the overrepresentation of First Nations people in the ACT's criminal justice system (the territory jails First Nations people at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country).
The final report released in July said if the government did not fully understand systemic racism it could create unconscious bias and make the problem much harder to fix.
One of the report's eye-watering 99 recommendations was to create senior First Nations roles for oversight across police, corrections and the courts.
It also recommended a "systemic racism review" of ACT Police and corrective services as a priority after reports that both agencies "target black people".
The government's interim response stated the cost to implement several of the recommendations would be "substantial" and thus needed to be assessed and quantified, and would return with an update in March 2026.
A month prior, the Ombudsman found police tended to use their power "to prevent anti-social behaviour rather than to provide for the person's care and protection".
And prior to this, The Canberra Times reported an at-risk Aboriginal teenager was taunted in police custody.
In the report, chief executive of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services Julie Tongs said police have "always" done racial profiling.
The health chief, one of the most vocal community leaders Canberra has, has said at countless conferences and interviews she wanted the government to stop commissioning further reviews.
On Thursday, standing alongside Kristie Peters, the aunty of the incorrectly arrested 17-year-old boy, Ms Tongs said the community was exhausted and "mob are just terrified" of going to police for help.
"The only thing they had in common was the colour of their skin," Ms Peters claimed.
Body-cam footage of the incident, which is being internally investigated by police, was requested at a committee hearing but will not be released to the public.
Justice and community safety services are not fully equipped
When an MLA asked whether police had a problem of systemic and institutional racism, police responded that was no place for racism in the force.
I don't know a public service that would admit otherwise, but strong principles are not the same as questioning systemic issues.
The ACT's Chief Police Officer didn't believe there was institutional racism within the force, adding that their systems – engagement strategies and cultural safety training – were developed in consultation with the community.
Police and prison officers have a tough gig, worsened by understaffed teams sharing the workload.
They're often forced to make split-second decisions that can change the course of lives, including their own.
Someone has to bust the child abusers, illegal weapons, drug suppliers that hurt our community. But the very nature of their work demands their best, especially at the worst of times.
The territory has already shown it does not have the money, to fix all its police stations or adequately staff its ambulance service before next year, confirmed by its highest-ever budget deficit in 2024-2025.
How to be anti-racist
There appears to be a pattern here, a nagging notion that if one truly hates racism, wants to address accusations, and stop spending money to find out if systemic bias exists, one should really be listening to and acting upon the reports.
Canberrans' taxpayer dollars continue to pay for repeated inquiries that report similar findings and recommendations about systemic racism.
Eventually the ACT has to prioritise anti-racist action, save valuable time, and prevent the human tragedies and financial burdens linked to this persistent issue.
To push this along, the majority must pay attention to stories the majority cannot relate to. Ignorance or the fear of being labelled as racist causes further distrust.
Questioning racism is not divisive, avoiding the conversation is.
Written by Bageshri Savyasachi © The Canberra Times/ACM
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
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