Today in Yuendumu, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage in a 683 page report handed down findings into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, a young Walpiri and Luritja teenager whose life was taken by Northern Territory Police in November 2019. She recognised the pain and sorrow of Kumanjayi Walker’s family and paid her respects to them—I am very sorry for their loss.

Coroner Armitage found that ‘Kumanjayi Walker’s death in Yuendumu on 9 November 2019 was avoidable. She said. ‘I share the view expressed by experienced senior police officers who said that this was a case of “officer induced jeopardy”, an expression that describes situations where officers “needlessly put themselves in danger”; making themselves and others vulnerable and creating a situation that justifies the use of deadly force.

This inquest has been the longest in the Territory’s history, and conclude almost six years after Kumanjayi Walker was killed. Over these years, the family and community have participated in every aspect of the inquest with dignity, strength and clarity. 

The Northern Territory Coroner has handed down her findings after carefully considering extensive evidence from the family of Kumanjayi Walker, community members, Aboriginal leaders and the Northern Territory Police.

The Coroner also found that: 

• A work environment that tolerated, or normalised, racism—Mr Rolfe held and expressed racist views about Aboriginal people and that his use of force history, and telephone messages, demonstrated that he had dehumanised the Aboriginal population he was policing. He engaged in “everyday” or “interpersonal” racism and that he worked in, and was the beneficiary of, an organisation with significant hallmarks of institutional racism.

• As NAAJA submitted, racist language and actions were not confined to Mr Rolfe, and this was not a case of one “bad apple”. …. Structural and institutional racism permitted a work environment to exist which not only tolerated Mr Rolfe’s racism but allowed it to go unchecked and permitted others to actively engage in it with him.

• ….  it is worth noting that Kumanjayi spent time in detention centres that were subsequently criticised for their abject failure to provide for the needs of some of the most vulnerable children in the Northern Territory.

• Given his ongoing levels of recidivism it seems reasonably clear that detention neither deterred nor rehabilitated Kumanjayi, and his isolation from family and community likely had a deleterious effect on his overall prospects for rehabilitation both in and out of detention.

The Coroner accepted NAAJA’s submission that there is a need to ‘build anti-racism considerations into [NT Police’s] recruitment processes, with a view to identifying and screening out applicants…who pose an inappropriate risk of holding racist attitudes’.

NAAJA welcomes the Coroner’s recommendations to reform the current Northern Territory police complaints system, but are disappointed the Coroner did not recommend an independent oversight body to deliver true accountability and transparency in cases of police misconduct towards Aboriginal people, and to drive structural change in the police force.

Amongst the Coroner’s recommendations, NAAJA supports the recommendation that ‘in consultation with the community of Yuendumu, the Northern Territory Government provide for Aboriginal-led, on‑country programs, rehabilitation and diversion services for young people, and the Northern Territory Government, together with an elected leadership group or community representatives, co-design a 10 year plan for youth and young adults in Yuendumu, including a mapping report for the resourcing required to achieve goals for reducing criminogenic factors affecting young people’.

NAAJA has consistently called on the Northern Territory Government to sit down with Aboriginal leaders to discuss better ways to address community safety and improve the justice system, rather than just focus on incarceration. The Coroner’s findings provide an opportunity for this to occur as part of implementing the key recommendations. In the absence of active steps to act on these recommendations, Aboriginal people will continue to die in custody, on their country.

‘NAAJA acknowledges the deep pain felt by Kumanjayi Walker’s family and by the entire Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory. We welcome the findings of the Coroner and bringing to light what led to the tragic events of 2019’, NAAJA chairperson, Theresa Roe said. ‘We stand with Kumanjayi Walker’s family, community, and Yuendumu in their fight for truth and justice, and support the family’s calls for police accountability. Now is the time to stop, talk and focus on a better way forward.’

NAAJA will review all of the findings and recommendations of the Coroner in detail over the coming week.

Media contact

Comments in this media release other than direct quotes can be attributed to a NAAJA spokesperson.

Anthony Beven
0419 218 518 / anthony.beven@naaja.org.au

NAAJA MR2025-10 7 July 2025