A human rights complaint has been lodged against the Northern Territory government and police commissioner on behalf of serving Aboriginal police officers.
Three serving Aboriginal police officers have lodged the complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission alleging racial discrimination over a 20-year period.
The complaint, lodged on the officers’ behalf by Sydney-based law firm Levitt Robinson, includes allegations of racial vilification and derision, and an unequal system of pay and promotion.
“[Aboriginal Community Police Officers] have been subject to racist conduct since their position was invented,” lawyer Dana Levitt said.
“A lot of them have complained about the treatment to which they were subject or they’ve seen other community members subject and nothing has been done about it.”
But Levitt said these are not historical complaints.
“They are still very much of today,” she said.
“These are serving police members of the police force who have felt compelled to do this.”
Commissioner Michael Murphy said it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of the case, but the police force was “invested in cultural reform”.
“What I can say is that it is a positive step for NT Police that members have the confidence to speak up about issues such as racism,” he said in a statement.
The complaint follows Murphy’s public apology in August to Indigenous Territorians for past harms and injustices caused by members of the NT Police.
This apology was offensive to Aboriginal community police officers because it implied they had been complicit in the system, Levitt said.
“It was a blanket apology about racist conduct by the NT Police,” she said.
“It didn’t distinguish between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members of the force … the way it was worded caught them up in the apology themselves, and they don’t have anything to apologise for.”
The lawyers said they plan to pursue the matter in the federal court if mediation is unsuccessful.