The number of Aboriginal deaths in custody is rising, and it's not acceptable by anyone's standards, says Della Burns.
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Ms Burns addressed a crowd of hundreds at Victoria Park on Sunday when she called out for all lives to matter.
The Dubbo Black Lives Matter Rally, organised by Heath Wirth, was held in response to the death of George Floyd in the United States. It also focused on the more than 400 deaths of Aboriginal people in custody.
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths into Custody studied the underlying issues behind the 99 deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people between the start of 1980 until May 1989.
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Ms Burns said the outcome of the RCIADIC was "not great". She said blame was taken away from the authorities for the deaths.
"In that report they made 339 recommendations and only a few have ever been implemented even though they funded it with millions of dollars. The main one was reconciliation and I think everybody's heard of reconciliation, but my question is, how's that working out for you? It's not," she said.
"Since the RCIADIC report has come out we've had increase of deaths by 150 per cent. That's since 1991."
Ms Burns highlighted the disparity between the number of Aboriginal people and the number of those who had died.
"We represent, as Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders, 2.8 per cent of the population. [Yet] of all male deaths [in custody], Aboriginal men represent 18 per cent and out of all the deaths of females, we represent 32 per cent," she said.
"It clearly shows there's an imbalance in the justice system between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people. I don't think that's acceptable by anyone's standards.
"I don't think I have to remind you all that all lives matter, and they matter because we're all human beings, no matter out colour, creed or race."
Ms Burns was the MC of the Black Lives Matter Rally at the weekend.
The event started with a smoking ceremony before the microphone was opened to anyone who wished to speak.
Stories were shared about the racism and mistreatment Aboriginal people had experienced, as well as calls for better education and understanding in the future.