Coroner confirms Kumanjayi Walker’s death was avoidable
The Northern Territory Coroner has found that the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu was avoidable and driven by officer-induced jeopardy, systemic racism and serious failures of policy and training within NT Police. Expert testimony presented during the inquest indicated that Mr Walker likely lived with an intellectual disability, probable fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and complex developmental trauma — factors that severely limited his capacity for self-regulation and comprehension in the chaotic moments that led to his death.
FPDN stands with the Walker family and Yuendumu
Responding to the findings, the First Peoples Disability Network (FPDN) expresses deep solidarity with Kumanjayi Walker’s family, the wider Warlpiri community and the Justice 4 Walker campaign. Acting Co-CEOs Tennille Lamb and Debbie Lee have called the report “a watershed moment” that must trigger urgent, nationwide reforms.
“Kumanjayi Walker was a young man with disability whose life was cut short because policing systems could neither see nor respect his needs,” said Tennille Lamb, FPDN Director of Policy & Strategy. “The Coroner is clear: this tragedy was preventable. Governments now have an obligation to act decisively so no other family endures what the Walker family has, six years of intolerable injustice with no end in sight.”
Debbie Lee, FPDN Director of Community Engagement agreed, adding “Warlpiri leaders have repeatedly asked for community control over policing and services. FPDN backs those calls in full. A just response must restore power, resources and cultural authority to Yuendumu, while embedding disability inclusion in every reform. Business as usual has proven to be an absolute failure.”
Why disability inclusion is essential
First Nations people with disability are over-represented at every point of the justice system and face a heightened risk of police violence. In Mr Walker’s case, police abandoned a planned low-risk arrest, entered an acutely stressful environment and failed to adjust their approach to his disability-related behaviours. That combination of racism, ableism and policy failure cost Kumanjayi Walker his life. Any meaningful reform must therefore centre the expertise and leadership of First Nations people with lived experience of disability.
Next steps
FPDN calls on the Northern Territory and Commonwealth Governments, NT Police and the Standing Council of Attorneys-General to create joint implementation taskforce co-chaired by Warlpiri leaders and people with disability. The Network is also urging immediate public reporting on progress against each coronial recommendation and the Justice 4 Walker campaign’s demands.
NT authorities have so far resisted external scrutiny, insisting an internal investigation is sufficient. This impasse underscores the need for Commonwealth intervention in this matter.
FPDN calls for action
- Implement every coronial recommendation in full and on time, with transparent progress reporting.
- Mandate cognitive and neurodevelopmental screening at first police contact and ensure the use of culturally safe tools to identify any specific needs related to physical or psychosocial disability, FASD, intellectual disability and communication support needs before any interview, search or arrest proceeds.
- Embed Access to First Nations Disability Liaison Officers and clinical specialists in every remote policing unit, on-call teams of Aboriginal health workers, speech pathologists and trauma-informed practitioners who can de-escalate situations involving people with executive-function or self-regulation difficulties.
- Make disability-specific cultural safety training compulsory for all NT Police – co-designed with First Nations people with disability, covering FASD, intellectual disability, complex trauma, executive dysfunction, sensory overload and plain-language communication strategies.
- Replace firearms-first tactics with a disability-aware de-escalation model – equip officers with non-lethal options and protocols that account for slow processing speed, startle responses and reduced impulse control which can be associated with some of psychosocial disabilities.
- Guarantee immediate access to qualified disability advocates and interpreters whenever a person is questioned, moved, or held in custody, so rights are understood and exercised in real time.
- Redirect justice funding into community-controlled, disability-inclusive supports – culturally-anchored on-country healing programs, FASD diagnostic and therapeutic services, trauma counselling, youth diversion and supported pathways, particularly in Yuendumu.
- Establish an independent police-oversight body that tracks disability-related harm – require public reporting on use of force, complaints and deaths in custody disaggregated by disability, and empower the body to compel policy change where systemic ableism is identified.
FPDN backs other calls from the Justice 4 Walker campaign – formed by Kumanjayi Walker’s family and community which is asking for:
- Police to be held accountable for violence, racism and deaths in custody;
- Power given back to Yuendumu and Aboriginal communities through self-governance, self-determination and full community control;
- Divestment from prisons and punitive policing, and investment in culturally safe, community-led alternatives;
- The banning of guns and an end to the excessive use of force and racially discriminatory policing that has devastated communities like Yuendumu; and
- A reckoning with the Northern Territory’s mass incarceration crisis, especially its systematic over-incarceration of Aboriginal people and criminalisation of children.
About First Peoples Disability Network
FPDN is the national peak organisation led by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability. We advocate for the human rights of 60,000+ First Nations people with disability and their families and work to ensure policies, programs and services are culturally safe, accessible and anchored in self-determination.
For all media enquires please contact:
FPDN Media Team
Email: [email protected] or Mobile: 0429 291 730
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Cultural warning
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this statement contains the name and details of a deceased First Nations person. It also discusses topics that may cause distress, including death in custody, police restraint, and systemic injustice.
