By Lauren Smith and Tahnee Jash
June 18, 2024
Michael, Rose and Orlyn at the graveside of their mother, Constance Watcho.(Four Corners: David Maguire)
For years, Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman Amy McQuire has sat in courtrooms listening to the harrowing stories of families crying out for answers about loved ones who have vanished from their lives – some as young as four years old.
"If you go to any Aboriginal community, you'll hear stories like this where their loved ones have been killed and there hasn't been a follow through," the post-doctoral Indigenous fellow at the Queensland University of Technology said.
Triggered by stories like this, almost two years ago, a Senate inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children was established after Yamatji-Noongar woman and Greens senator Dorinda Cox brought a motion to parliament.
Senator Dorinda Cox brought the motion establishing the inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children. (ABC Pilbara: Amelia Searson)
After 87 submissions and many traumatic stories shared by First Nations advocates and families across five states and territories, the last hearing was held in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Dr McQuire said the scale of the issue was "huge" and must be addressed at a systemic level.
"What's happening with these specific cases of women disappearing is that they are seen as isolated cases, so you don't see the patterns," she said.
She said there needed to be more honest discussions about the violence First Nations women and children were experiencing. "Violence is only spoken about in one way and it's always black-on-black violence and black men being perpetrators, but when [Aboriginal people] speak about violence, it's very different."
"There has to be a national movement to understand what's happening, but it has to be led by Aboriginal families in memory of their loved ones."
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up 20 per cent of homicide victims in Australia, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology, despite representing only 3.8 per cent of the population.
Almost a fifth of those victims are children.
And First Nations women are 33 times more likely to be hospitalised and six times more likely to die due to family violence in comparison to non-Indigenous women.
Families of missing women and children search for answers
It was only two weeks ago that the Queensland deputy state coroner said it "may never be known" how 36-year-old Brisbane mother Constance Watcho died.
Her body was found in a sports bag at the bottom of a popular walking track in Kangaroo Point.
She had been missing for 10 months and when her family reported her missing in 2018, the local police marked her case as "medium risk".
After the deputy state coroner handed down her findings, Mervyn Riley — a spokesperson for Ms Watcho's family — said the family was feeling "total devastation".
"[The coroner] could not give us a definitive answer for these children who are going to suffer for the rest of their lives of not knowing," he said.
'Deeply shocking' treatment by police
Greens senator and police justice spokesperson David Shoebridge is on the committee for the inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children. He said of all the evidence he heard, what was presented by police was "the most harrowing".
He described the "seeming indifference" many police displayed towards First Nations women and children.
David Shoebridge says he was shocked by the evidence he heard during the inquiry. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
"I think some of that was deeply shocking," Senator Shoebridge said.
WA Police failed to appear before the Senate inquiry.
It later submitted a statement saying it had enacted a number of changes to "improve the response, investigation and outcomes for family violence victims" and to "build and maintain trusting relationships with Aboriginal people".
'Comprehensive investigation' needed to bring change
Giving evidence at the final hearing yesterday was Antoinette Gentile, a Wollithiga woman and the acting CEO of Djirra — a community organisation that provides legal support to Aboriginal people experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence in Victoria.
She hopes the inquiry will lead to change and she is calling for a more wide-ranging investigation that will create genuine impact.
"A more comprehensive investigation is needed in the form of a royal commission to sufficiently address and understand this critical and complex issue," she said.
"Some services have chosen not to participate in this inquiry. A royal commission would compel them to do so and provide a more thorough investigation."
Attendees lay flowers on the Alice Springs Court lawns during a 2022 vigil for a woman and her child killed in a family violence incident. (ABC News: Xavier Martin)
She shared evidence of police "minimising violence, not believing them, and refusing to take statements, telling women that, 'The violence isn't that bad so why bother [reporting it].'"
Ms Gentile said with a lack of data reporting on this issue, only part of the story was told when it came to missing and murdered First Nations women and children. "More than 90 per cent of family and sexual violence goes unreported," she said.
"We also know that two out of three women accessing Djirra's legal service and 72 per cent of women accessing our individual support service had a non-Aboriginal male partner in 2023."
While the inquiry has concluded, Dr McQuire says the "fight will continue". "Aboriginal women have been speaking on this for a very long time and have never been listened to," she said.
"Going through this process continually and not having an outcome can be very traumatising for families to sit through," she said.
"I have limited hope in inquiries … but we'll have to see what response they come out with."
A final report with the committee's findings and recommendations will be handed down on June 30.
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