deaths in custody

O’Brien Criminal & Civil Solicitors are representing the family of Kumanjayi Dempsey

Nicole Byrne
January 5, 2026

MEDIA RELEASE – 05 January 2026

O’Brien Criminal & Civil Solicitors act for the family of Kumanjayi Dempsey, a 44-year-old mother of five, who tragically passed away in police custody after time spent at Tennant Creek Watch House on 27 December 2025. We extend our sincere condolences to Kumanjayi’s family, friends and loved ones and ask that their privacy be respected during this trying time.

Kumanjayi’s death marked the fourth Aboriginal death in custody in the Northern Territory in 2025, a devastating indictment of systemic failure, 34 years after the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

We are concerned about the ongoing inadequacy of the conditions of cells in Tennant Creek Watch House, and Northern Territory detention facilities more broadly. Kumanjayi’s death is particularly harrowing given the NT Government’s recent refusal to allow the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to conduct its scheduled inspection of Northern Territory detention centres, including watch houses, in breach of Australia’s international human rights obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). The NT Government must be held accountable.

Our team has extensive experience pursuing civil actions against the state on behalf of families affected by deaths in custody.

Read our successful civil law case studies.