Every NT government agency and service provider is set to be reviewed for systemic racism. 

As part of the coronial inquest into the police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker, the Aboriginal Justice Unit said it would review all departments for evidence of systemic racism. 

Leanne Liddle, a former police officer in South Australia and current director of the Aboriginal Justice Unit - which sits under the Department of Attorney-General and Justice - has told the coroner that systemic racism is often “misunderstood”.

“It's often denied, challenged, deflected or dismissed,” Ms Liddle said.

“Systemic racism is racism that is structured in political or social institutions that discriminate either deliberately or not deliberately, consciously or unconsciously, within a system that impacts and delivers unfair and discriminatory outcomes for specific racial groups.”

The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics (DIPL) is reportedly the first agency to be reviewed, but the second is yet to be decided. The report into DIPL has not been made public.

“People get uncomfortable when we talk about reviewing systemic racism,” Ms Liddle said.

“But they shouldn't because often it's not one person's fault, it just sits in the system.”

Ms Liddle told the coroner that systemic racism was one of the biggest issues she came across in her three-year consultations with Aboriginal communities across the Northern Territory to develop the Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA).

Ms Liddle said she had “lost count” of the number of times she had experienced racism at work.

“I recall on one consult, a senior sergeant of a remote police station … said to me when I asked him what did he believe was the answer to reducing incarceration of Aboriginal people. He said; ‘The only hope you mob have is to stop breeding for the next 10 to 15 years’,” Ms Liddle said.

Deputy Police Commissioner Murray Smalpage previously told the coroner that he was not aware of any systemic racism within the force.

Deputy Commissioner Smalpage accepted some officers have racist views and attitudes, but claimed the issue is not systemic.