MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday 17 September 2026
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have written off a dangerous ‘mistaken identity’ arrest of an Aboriginal child, showing yet again that the ACT urgently needs independent police oversight.
The AFP Professional Standards Unit concluded that racial discrimination did not influence police officers’ decision to pull an Aboriginal boy off a Canberra bus at gunpoint while searching for a different person.
“It’s unacceptable for police to investigate police, but sadly this is business as usual in the ACT,” said Sharif Deen, Acting CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT).
“This was a terrifying incident that traumatised an Aboriginal child and put him and bystanders in serious danger, yet police want the public to believe there’s nothing to see here. This is despite the Ombudsman’s recent findings that unconscious bias may have played a role in this arrest, and despite extensive documentation of police racial profiling in an independent review of Aboriginal over-representation in the ACT justice system.
“Police discrimination, violence, and dehumanising treatment against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is systemic. Our staff see evidence of this every day, and our clients experience it first-hand,” Mr Deen said.
This is just one of several examples of police mistreatment against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members. News recently came to light of a horrifying incident of police violence against an Aboriginal man where he was allegedly bashed while naked and handcuffed, and an officer subsequently attempted to cover it up. In another recent incident, an ACT Policing officer taunted a handcuffed and detained 13-year-old Aboriginal boy, saying words to the effect of: "Why don't you get your brother to come pick you up in a stolen car?"
The independent review by the UTS Jumbunna Institute for Education and Research made almost 100 recommendations, including a priority recommendation to conduct a review of systemic racism in ACT Policing. It also recommended the establishment of an independent oversight body with the authority to investigate complaints against ACT Policing, and to compel action in response to its investigations. The ALS strongly supports these recommendations.
“Independent police oversight is long overdue in the ACT. Police are granted extraordinary powers and it’s in the public interest for these to be matched with robust and independent oversight. Our communities will never have justice until there is real accountability,” Mr Deen said.
