{"id":377996,"date":"2025-12-29T10:45:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T10:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/377996\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T10:45:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T10:45:11","slug":"kempsey-community-marks-10-years-since-death-in-custody-of-david-dungay-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/377996\/","title":{"rendered":"Kempsey community marks 10 years since death in custody of David Dungay Jr"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ten years after Dunghutti man David Dungay Junior died in a Sydney prison cell, his mother says the fight for justice has only just begun.<\/p>\n

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the image and name of a person who has died.<\/p>\n

Marching from Kempsey Police Station on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, Leetona Dungay is calling for the country to remember the 26-year-old, and for systemic change to a corrections system she says still fails to protect Indigenous people.<\/p>\n

“[It’s] heartache for me and my family, we’re not giving up,” Ms Dungay said.\"Leetona<\/p>\n

David Dungay Jr’s mother, Leetona Dungay, says she will never stop fighting for change. (ABC News: Sophia McCaughan)<\/p>\n

“I’m going to keep the pressure up and I hope all other parents, nieces and nephews stand up for their uncles where no-one else can, and there is a lot of advocacy.<\/p>\n

“A lot of people are really fighting against discrimination and injustice.”<\/p>\n

A rally in David’s memory<\/p>\n

Mr Dungay died in his cell at Sydney’s Long Bay Prison on December 29, 2015, after he was moved to another cell, restrained, and sedated after a dispute over eating biscuits.<\/p>\n

Serving time for assault, aggravated attempted sexual assault, and being party to a robbery, he was due to be released just weeks before his death.<\/p>\n

A 2023 inquest found he died from cardiac arrhythmia, with video footage showing several guards holding him face down, as he yelled, “I can’t breathe”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

David Dungay Jr died at in custody on December 29, 2015. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Mr Dungay’s diabetes, antipsychotic medication, and extreme stress were also found to have contributed to his death.<\/p>\n

The inquest heard a lack of training for corrections and medical staff was also a factor.<\/p>\n

Nobody was prosecuted over the incident.<\/p>\n

A battle for change<\/p>\n

Ms Dungay has fiercely advocated for increased accountability and change within the justice system for the past decade.<\/p>\n

“He was a happy-go-lucky person, he played football, he used to work, and then he used to yarn to all his elders. He respected his elders,” Ms Dungay said.<\/p>\n

This year, Australia recorded 34 Indigenous deaths in custody, the highest number since records began in 1979.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Australia has recorded the worst year on record for Indigenous deaths in custody.\u00a0 (ABC News: Sophia McCaughan)<\/p>\n

New South Wales recorded the highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody, with 618 First Nations deaths in custody since the royal commission into the issue in 1991.<\/p>\n

Mr Dungay’s nephew and advocate, Paul Silva, said that until systemic cultural issues were addressed within the prison system, people like his uncle would continue to die.<\/p>\n

“When we see police, inquiries, court people dealing with our people, there’s never any justice or accountability,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Paul Silva says systemic change is needed to create more accountability within the corrections and justice system. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Many people say, ‘Oh, but they’re a criminal’ \u2014 well they’ve paid their debt to society, they’ve gone through the lawful process and been held accountable.<\/p>\n

“Some of them haven’t even been found guilty in a court of law and they’re still coming home in a body bag.”<\/p>\n

Mr Silva said the family had called for more community-centred initiatives to keep First Nations people out of the justice system, as well as an independent body to investigate Indigenous deaths in custody.<\/p>\n

He said outcomes like last month’s historic verdict against a police officer<\/a>, convicted of dangerous driving that killed Dunghutti teenager Jai Wright during a 2022 pursuit, showed his family’s advocacy was having an impact.<\/p>\n

It is considered the first time a police officer has been convicted over an Indigenous death in custody in Australia.<\/p>\n

\"Dozens<\/p>\n

Advocates say while Indigenous Australians make up 3 per cent of the country’s population, they account for around 30 per cent of its prisoners. (ABC News: Marina Trajkovich)<\/p>\n

“Once we start holding these people accountable \u2026 that’s when I believe we will see real change,” Mr Silva said.Reforms in prison system<\/p>\n

In a statement, Corrective Services Commissioner Gary McCahon said several changes, including significant reform addressing the use of force on inmates and training for corrections officers on the dangers of positional asphyxia, had been introduced in the wake of Mr Dungay’s death.<\/p>\n

“In 2019, Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) established a Use of Force Review Committee to audit compliance and strengthen oversight of uses of force,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Women<\/p>\n

Locals join the memorial march in honour of David Dungay Jr. (ABC News: Sophia McCaughan)<\/p>\n

“As directed by the minister for corrections, CSNSW has also commissioned a Rapid Review into Unnatural and Undetermined Deaths in Custody to identify systemic issues and suggest reforms to improve the safety and wellbeing of people in custody.”<\/p>\n

He said a “thematic review of Aboriginal Deaths in Custody” would make new recommendations to the state’s corrective services minister next year.<\/p>\n

Complaint to the United Nations<\/p>\n

After issuing an official complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 2021, Ms Dungay said she would revisit the UN in Geneva in 2026 to demand more action from the Australian government on Indigenous deaths in custody.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dozens gathered in Kempsey to commemorate 10 years since the death of David Dungay Jr. (ABC News: Sophia McCaughan)<\/p>\n

A Corrective Services NSW spokesperson said it was working with the Dungay family to install a plaque at the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre in Kempsey, with more details to be confirmed in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

ABC News reached out to the United Nations Human Rights Committee for an update on Ms Dungay’s complaint.<\/p>\n

If you need someone to talk to, call:Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 14Kids Helpline<\/a> on 1800 551 800MensLine Australia<\/a> on 1300 789 978Suicide Call Back Service<\/a> on 1300 659 467Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 22 46 36Headspace<\/a> on 1800 650 890QLife<\/a> on 1800 184 527<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ten years after Dunghutti man David Dungay Junior died in a Sydney prison cell, his mother says the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,203685,203686,203690,203684,203687,203688,44,203689,203691],"class_list":["post-377996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-david-dungay-jr","tag-david-dungay-jr-anniversary","tag-indigenous-advocate","tag-indigenous-deaths-in-custody","tag-justice-system-systemic-issues","tag-leetona-dungay","tag-news","tag-paul-silva","tag-prison-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}