The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody: looking forward, looking backwards THE HONOURABLE ELLIOTT JOHNSTON AO QC

There is little doubt that the decision of the Hawke Government to establish the Commission was greatly influenced by Aboriginal agitation about the number of deaths in custody. And there is no doubt that, whatever the cause of that decision, the subsequent decision to expand the number of Commissioners to four times that originally provided for was due to the fact that, within a few months of setting the Commission up, it became apparent that about a hundred deaths would have to be investigated.