WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware this site contains references to people who have died.
The South Australian Parliament has voted to permanently criminalize the use of spit hoods, following half a decade of advocacy by the family of Wayne Fella Morrison, who died in police custody in 2016.
On Wednesday, September 22nd, the state’s upper house unanimously voted to remove the use of spit hoods as restrain devices in South Australia. Meaning the head or face coverings will be prohibited in corrections, police, and mental health environments.
Fella’s Bill, known as the Statutes Amendment (Spit Hood Prohibition), is a result of five years of advocacy by the family of Wayne Fella Morrison. A Wiradjuri, Wirangu and Kokatha man, Morrison died on September 26th, 2016 at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Mr Morrison, 29, had not been convicted of any crime, and was being held on remand at the time of his death in Yatala Labour Prison when an altercation broke out with guards days before he was set to face a bail hearing.
Mr Morrison was restrained by the wrists and ankles, placed in a spit hood, and positioned face down in the back of a transport van with five officers. He was pulled unresponsive from the van and died three days later. There is no CCTV evidence from inside the vehicle.
Following his death, Mr Morrison’s family have been vocal advocates for the ban of spit hoods by law in all institutional contexts.
“I welcome this step toward accountability, but it isn’t the end for us,” Mr Morrison’s mother Caroline Anderson said. “The last time I heard my son’s voice was a week before his image became synonymous with these barbaric devices.”
South Australian MP Connie Bonaros, who introduced Fella’s Bill into State Parliament in April 2020, read a statement from the family on Wednesday.
“Wayne’s death was preventable…That speaks to the multitude of ongoing issues of incarceration and control over Aboriginal people that this parliament has the power to resolve today, that it has always had the power to resolve even before Wayne’s death,” the statement read.
Once passed in the lower house, Fella’s Bill will prohibit the use of spit hoods on people of all ages, and impose criminal penalties with a maximum two-year prison sentence.
“That is a significant reform and it should send a strong message that under no circumstances are spit hoods to be used as a restraint mechanism in any detention setting across South Australia,” Ms Bonaros said.
An online petition backed by more than 26,000 signatures was tabled in parliament by Ms Bonaros, who supported the bill.
#SouthAustralia is set to become the first jurisdiction to criminalise the use of spit hoods after #FellasBill won unanimous support in the state’s upper house. MLC @ConnieBonaros says sorry to Wayne Fella Morison’s family @NITV @SBSNews #auspol pic.twitter.com/LcvEoGo8NP
— Peta Doherty (@petadoherty) September 22, 2021
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