Indigenous Legal Judgments by Nicole Watson Heather Douglas

Author:Nicole Watson, Heather Douglas [Nicole Watson, Heather Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367467456
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2021-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

Richard Aldridge ........................................ Appellant;

AND

Commissioner of Corrective Services ....................................... Respondent;

[2003] NSWSC 1170

Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW)—Racism—Race discrimination—Employment—Indigenous peoples—Less favourable treatment—Indigenous knowledges—Standpoint.

Nielsen and Bargallie JJ.1 On 15 April 1991, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (‘RCIADIC’) completed its national investigation into the grossly disproportionate rate of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It investigated the cause of the deaths in custody of 88 men and 11 women between 1980 and 1989. The RCIADIC could not identify one ‘common thread’ to explain these deaths, but it did find that in every death, the person’s ‘Aboriginality played a significant and in most cases dominant role in their being in custody and dying in custody’.2

The RCIADIC’s vital purpose was to formulate recommendations to prevent such deaths in the future. Its reports offer significant commentary on the criminal justice system, including the corrections system and custodial institutions. It is profoundly relevant to the present case as its findings indicate a dynamic of institutionalised racism in the workplace and events to which this matter relates.

The appellant, Richard Aldridge, is a Kamilaroi man,3 who was a senior Aboriginal employee of the New South Wales Department of Corrective Services, a member of the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee, and Aboriginal Project and Policy Officer in the Aboriginal Resources Unit (‘ARU’). That role involved advising the Department on implementing the RCIADIC’s recommendations within the New South Wales custodial system. Mr Aldridge came to the role with relevant qualifications and significant experience gained through completion of a Corrective Services Welfare Officer Traineeship, a Diploma in Social Welfare, and as a welfare officer at Long Bay Correctional Centre. Imperative to the role was Mr Aldridge’s Aboriginal standpoint and cultural knowledge. His standing was recognised by his appointment to the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee, a committee formed to advise government on the RCIADIC’s recommendations.

The respondent is the Department of Corrective Services and the Commissioner as its head. Mr Aldridge’s complaint relates primarily to actions by one employee—Ronald George Woodham—who at the relevant time was the Department’s Assistant Commissioner, but was appointed Commissioner in 2002. During the relevant period, 1995 to 1996, the rate of Indigenous deaths in custody in NSW remained disproportionately high, indicating that the Department needed to act urgently to abate this national disgrace.4

Mr Aldridge was employed in a grade 7/8 position5 within the Department. From February 1993 to November 1995, his role was to develop, set up, and work in the ARU (renamed the Indigenous Services Unit [‘ISU’] in March 1996). Mr Woodham had Mr Aldridge removed from the ARU in February 1996, and despite the availability of a comparable position in the new ISU, Aldridge was not advised of or appointed to that role. Instead, the Department moved him to various positions, and ultimately to one that had no direct role with Indigenous peoples. Mr Aldridge based his complaint of race discrimination in employment on these events and other interactions with Mr Woodham. The Department denied that any of these actions occurred because of Aldridge’s race, but instead occurred due to problems with his work performance within the ARU.

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