Darwin Local Court finds police used unlawful, excessive force against First Nations man in a wheelchair as body-worn video captures the moment of assault.
First Peoples Disability Network (FPDN), the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability, says last week’s Northern Territory court finding is not an aberration but the latest proof that Australia’s justice system is failing First Nations people with disability.
“We are witnessing a national crisis that demands immediate action,” said Damian Griffis, CEO, FPDN. “Our people with disability are being brutalised and killed by the very systems meant to protect them. These are not isolated incidents, they are part of a documented pattern stretching back decades.”
A predictable tragedy, and a preventable one
Body-worn video played to the Darwin Local Court captured a loud thud as the man, later identified as Darius Cebu, was dragged from his wheelchair and dropped into a police wagon. The court ruled the officer’s force was excessive and unlawful. His assault also resulted in a broken tooth.
FPDN’s Director of Policy & Strategy Tennille Lamb said what happened to Mr Cebu typifies how disability is misread as defiance:
“When you’re both First Nations and living with disability, you face discrimination at every turn. Our people are crying out for culturally safe, disability-informed responses, instead, they’re met with force that too often ends in trauma or death.”
Lamb added that officers even confiscated Mr Cebu’s wheelchair, contrary to policy expectations that mobility aids remain with the person unless there’s a clear, specific risk, again underscoring how disability rights are sidelined in custody settings.
The wider pattern: deaths in custody, damning findings, delayed reform
The ruling lands amid a year of devastating headlines. In May 2025, Kumanjayi White, a 24-year-old Warlpiri man widely understood to have a disability, died after being restrained by police at an Alice Springs supermarket, sparking national calls for an independent investigation.
In July 2025, the NT Coroner delivered inquest findings into the police shooting of Kumanjayi Walker, calling the death “avoidable”, outlining systemic racism and detailing recommendations for reform across NT policing.
Despite decades of inquiries and two major Royal Commissions, implementation has lagged. The Disability Royal Commission confirmed that people with disability are over-represented at every stage of the criminal justice system, and set out a clear roadmap for change, including Volume 8: Criminal justice and people with disability, and Volume 9: First Nations people with disability. In total, the Commission made 222 recommendations for a safer, more inclusive Australia.
“Every death, every assault, every traumatic interaction is a failure of policy, training and basic humanity,” Griffis said. “The time for reports and reviews has passed, we need action now.”
What FPDN is calling for now
To stop the harm and save lives, FPDN calls for governments and police leaders to take the following immediate steps:
- Implement the roadmaps: Fully fund and time-bind implementation of RCIADIC and Disability Royal Commission justice-related recommendations, with First Nations leadership at the centre.
- Independent accountability: Establish a fully independent body to investigate police misconduct and all deaths in custody, ending “police investigating police.”
- Mandatory training & specialist roles: Embed disability and cultural awareness training across policing, co-designed with First Nations disability organisations, and establish First Nations disability liaison officers in every command.
- Transparent data: Require public reporting of police interactions with people with disability, disaggregated by Indigenous status, with consistent national metrics.
- NDIS & justice integration: Embed NDIS screening, assessment and support planning at first police contact, courts, custody and release so needs are met rather than criminalised.
- Emergency roundtable: Convene an urgent meeting of the NDIA, state/territory disability ministers and the Attorney-General with First Nations disability leaders to deliver an immediate action plan on police violence.
“We cannot police or imprison our way out of a crisis born from dispossession, poverty and systemic neglect,” Lamb said. “Shift resources into First Nations, community-controlled disability and health supports, fund what works, and stop criminalising need.”
Beyond policing: invest in community, not cages
This is not merely a policing issue; it is a system design problem. When a First Nations person with disability experiences a mental health crisis, they need health care, not handcuffs; when a wheelchair user is approached by police, they deserve dignity, not assault.
FPDN stands ready to work with governments, police and communities to implement evidence-based, culturally safe reforms. The organisation warns that without swift action, more lives will be lost.
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 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.
FPDN’s CEO Damian Griffis and Director of Policy and Strategy Tennille Lamb are available for further comment and interviews.
For all media enquires please contact:
FPDN Media Team
Email: [email protected] or Mobile: 0429 291 730
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