politics
Family of Kumanjayi White Seeks Release of Independent Review One Year After Death in Police Restraint
The family of Kumanjayi White, an Indigenous man who died in May 2025 after police restraint in an Alice Springs supermarket, has called for the public release of an independent review into his death. The review was delivered to Northern Territory Police last week and forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions, but remains unreleased pending completion of the criminal investigation.
Apr 8, 3:28 PM·2m read1 source
Substrate placeholder — needs reviewAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
The family of Kumanjayi White, a Warlpiri man with disabilities, has requested the public release of an independent review into his death. White died on May 2025 after being restrained by two police officers in the confectionery aisle of a Coles supermarket in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
The incident occurred during a police operation, and an autopsy confirmed his death resulted from the restraint.
An independent review of the police use of force was commissioned by the Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions in 2024. The review was completed and returned to Northern Territory Police last week, nearly one year after White's death. Northern Territory Police confirmed the review has been provided to the Director of Public Prosecutions but stated that select parts cannot be released until the criminal investigation is finalized.
White's family, represented by the National Justice Project, reported no direct communication from authorities regarding the review or its findings.
They learned of the delivery through media reports. The family has also requested access to CCTV footage from the supermarket capturing the events leading to White's death, which police have not provided citing ongoing evidence gathering. Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, White's grandfather, stated that the review process did not involve the family.
“The independent investigation did not include our families. The investigation is biased." — Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves Hargraves added that the family seeks answers about the final moments of White's life and has called for the CCTV footage to be made public if it does not contain relevant evidence.”
The Northern Territory opposition has criticized the handling of the investigation as secretive. Advocacy groups, including First Nations legal services and Amnesty International, have repeatedly called for an investigation independent of police involvement.
