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A family friend of the first Indigenous woman to die in NSW police custody in 16 years says her relatives deserve answers about her death.
Rebecca Maher, 36, was found dead in a cell at Maitland police station on July 19, less than six hours after she was taken into custody.
Kathy Malera-Bandjalan is a friend of the family and said it had been a deeply traumatic time.
"She died in police custody, she was uncharged, she was put in a police cell, she was left to die, that is the reality of what we are facing here," she said.
"It's nothing that we're going to get over, it's nothing that her mother is ever going to be able to deal with in the short term, it's something that she's going to have to live with for the rest of her life and so are Rebecca's kids."
In July, police issued a statement on Ms Maher's death, but did not reveal she was Aboriginal.
Ms Malera-Bandjalan said there were many questions for police to answer, including why they left it for six hours to tell Ms Maher's family about her death.
"I can tell you unequivocally that Rebecca's mother was not informed of Rebecca's passing in that police cell, she didn't even know that she was in that police cell, until the police come around at 12:30 the next day and informed her," she said.
"We'd like answers as to what actually happened and we certainly don't want Rebecca's death to be in vain."
Ms Malera-Bandjalan said police would have known Ms Maher was Aboriginal.
"She was known to the police, as they say, and they certainly knew where she lived and they certainly knew who her mother was," she said.
An internal police critical investigation has been launched and the matter will also be examined by the NSW coroner.
Independent investigation needed, friend says
But Ms Malera-Bandjalan feared the police investigation would not be independent.
"We don't want an investigation just by the police for the police, we want an investigation for Rebecca, for justice and independently," she said.
That fear was echoed by Greens MP David Shoebridge who said any investigation also needed to look at the issue more broadly.
"The Minister owes the people of NSW and particularly this woman's family an explanation of what went wrong so far as he can tell, and a very clear commitment that this will not happen again," he said.
Ms Malera-Bandjalan said she understood NSW Police Minister Troy Grant was limited in what he could say while an investigation was underway, but suggested he could do more.
"That does not stop a minister having a bit of compassion ... it's about how you treat other people and having compassion to actually pick up the phone at least to call Rebecca's mother," she said.
'We will learn lessons from inquest': Minister
Mr Grant said Ms Maher's death was a terrible tragedy and he would do everything he could to ensure it was not repeated.
"We will find out ... through the inquest as to how and why this happened and to make sure that if there's any failings in notifications or processes those failings aren't repeated," he said.
"Unfortunately this tragedy shines a light on an issue that police are always mindful of."
Police said it would be inappropriate to comment further while an investigation was underway.
Prior to Ms Maher's death there had not been an Aboriginal death in a police cell in NSW since the Custody Notification Service was set up in 2000.
It was one of the recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the service was recently thrown a lifeline after a funding stoush between the federal and state governments.
Police have said Ms Maher was detained for apparent intoxication.
The Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) said legislation relating to the detention of intoxicated persons may need to be reviewed.
Police are required to alert the Custody Notification Service (CNS), which ensures Indigenous prisoners are given access to a lawyer and welfare check.
"Police are currently not required to call the CNS when they have detained someone who appears to be intoxicated for the sole purpose of their own welfare," a statement from ALS said.
A spokesperson for federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said the Minister has written to NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton asking her to ensure the ALS is immediately contacted when an Indigenous person is detained – no matter what the circumstances.
Topics: aboriginal, black-deaths-in-custody, state-parliament, maitland-2320
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