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The Northern Territory Police Force has released its first anti-racism strategy for staff, following years of headlines about racist attitudes that have dogged the organisation. The first phase of the force's anti-racism action plan was revealed in Alice Springs on Thursday, in a joint announcement by NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole and executive director of the force's Cultural Reform Command, Leanne Liddle. "This strategy is not a witch-hunt, it's a pathway forward," said Commissioner Dole. "It's about building a police force that truly reflects the territory that we serve, where every officer and every Territorian is treated with fairness and respect." Ms Liddle, a former police officer and Arrernte woman who grew up in Alice Springs, has spent more than a year investigating racism in the force with the help of a dedicated command. She said the plan was an opportunity to confront racism in the force with "honesty and courage", acknowledging it was a "confronting issue". "Systemic racism is an uncomfortable truth, but it is not a reflection of every officer. Instead it is about accepting that racism has informed the structures that have shaped policing for generations," she said. The anti-racism strategy was announced in mid-2024, largely in response to the high-profile coronial inquest into the 2019 police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker, which made public instances of racism in the NT Police Force. In her findings, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage found there was entrenched systemic and structural racism in the force's ranks and a work culture that normalised racial language, in the time leading up to the 19-year-old's death. An NT Supreme Court jury in 2022 acquitted the then-police officer who shot Mr Walker, Zachary Rolfe, of all charges related to his death. In August last year, then-NT police commissioner Michael Murphy delivered an apology to Aboriginal Territorians at the Garma Festival for "past harms and injustices caused by members of the Northern Territory Police". It was there that he also announced the development of an "anti-racism strategy" into the force, led by Ms Liddle and backed by a dedicated team. What's in the action plan? The announcement relates to the first stage of the anti-racism action plan, which is to be delivered by 2027 and is aimed at addressing racism in all its forms. The strategy is made up of four key priority areas: "Serve and protect", "eliminate racism", "represent and reflect our territory" and "be accountable". Steps outlined under the plan include the delivery of anti-racism training to all employees, providing tools to identify racist employees and improving processes that protect whistleblowers and victims of racism. It also aims to boost Aboriginal employment to 30 per cent across all staffing levels to match the NT's Aboriginal population, and to review and reform how data and statistics are collected, stored, and analysed "to eliminate racism". Ms Liddle said it was "absolutely critical" the action plan was implemented. "It is critical, absolutely critical, we are a professional police force, and to do that we have to be held accountable to the highest standards," she said. "People expect the police force to be professional, and that is what this strategy contributes to."
