Inquest into the Death of Tanya Day (2020)
What was at stake
Aboriginal death in custody after arrest for public drunkenness
What happened
Tanya Day, a Yorta Yorta woman, was arrested for public drunkenness on a train in December 2017 and taken to Castlemaine Police Station. While in police custody, she suffered multiple falls and sustained a serious head injury. Despite her deteriorating condition, she did not receive adequate monitoring or timely medical attention for several hours. She subsequently suffered a brain haemorrhage and died in hospital 16 days later.
What the court decided
Yorta Yorta woman died in police custody after arrest for public drunkenness. Coroner found death preventable. Led to Victoria decriminalising public drunkenness — implementing 29-year-old RCIADIC recommendation.
How the court got there
The Coroner found that Ms Day's death was preventable and attributed it to systemic failures within Victoria Police, including inadequate monitoring and care during her custody. The inquest concluded that officers failed to perform proper welfare checks and did not recognize or respond appropriately to her obvious signs of deteriorating health. This negligence, alongside findings of unconscious bias and systemic racism, contributed directly to her death, highlighting a failure to implement recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Statutes and cases cited
- § Coroners Act 2008 (Vic)
Categories
Authoritative link
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