(David Dungay’s mother seen infront of the inquest: SBS)
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Overview
David Dungay Jr, was a 26 year old Dungatti man, who died on December 29, 2015 in Sydney’s Long Bay Prison Hospital. In an attempted cell transfer, Dungay had refused to stop eating a packet of biscuits. As a result, six guards held him down in a prone position, administering a sedative while nursing staff and four other guards looked on. He called out twelve times that he couldn’t breathe before losing consiousness. By the time the guards realised the seriousness of the situation, several minutes had gone past before basic life saving support was attempted. Still, only two compressions were undertaken. Dungay had gone into asystole arrest, otherwise known as irreversible cardiac arrest.
For the full story:The tragic death in custody of David Dungay
Justice Action’s David Dungay project seeks to explore whether the NSW Coroner’s recommendations from the inquest into David’s death have been received on a national level and whether reforms have been made to implement these recommendations. Justice Action is interested in this project as the demonstrated indifference to David’s death proves a failure of the authorities, and continued inaction would only lead to further preventable deaths. Following our research into the issue, and the subsequent communication with national coroners, NCIS, Governor of NSW, and AIC, it has become clear current structure is lacking, and major reforms into the reporting and dissemination of key information for the prevention of future deaths in custody.
The findings of the 2019 Inquest into David Dungay’s death includes numerous recommendations, provided under act 82 of the Coroners Act. Due to the lacking information infrastructure, we are finding that many states have had similar previous incidents without wide reporting, many of which could have been prevented, or could themselves have prevented David’s death. We are currently sending the recommendations to all coroners offices, in an attempt to put into practice the necessary precautionary measures.
Aims
Initiate and achieve the establishment of a national database through which coroners share their findings, and publish responses; minimising any chance for further deaths in custody. To achieve this Justice Action has been in contact with the offices of all state and territory coroners, the Australian Institute for Criminology, the National Coroners Information Services, State Governors, Coroner’s Courts and other responsible government departments.
Media Links
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