'National shame': Landmark inquest shines light on DV

The killings of four Aboriginal women by their partners are part of a "plague" of domestic violence homicides contributing to a "national shame", a landmark coronial inquest has found. Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage on Monday handed down the findings into the killings of the four women - Kumanjayi Haywood, Ngeygo Ragurrk, Miss Yunupingu and Kumarn Rubuntja - by their partners. "In these inquests we have talked about sad times, indeed the worst of times, and their tragic deaths, but I know that you remembered them smiling and laughing," the coroner told the families sitting in the courtroom. "In handing down these findings, I will remember them that way too." Filled with family, friends, social services, police, and national officials, the packed court room reflected the way domestic violence infects the NT. Judge Armitage made 35 recommendations she said were "not radical and not new" but rather good news because "we know what needs to be done". She called on the NT government to release the minimum $180 million in social sector funding without delay. In front of the Domestic and Family Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin, the coroner called for funding for a Territory peak body to respond to the "shocking horror". "It is only the Northern Territory, which experiences the highest rates of domestic violence in the country, that does not have a peak body," she told the courtroom. "We must frankly acknowledge that our government and non-government agencies are failing to turn the tide". Judge Armitage pointed to the NT's high incarceration rates, quoting Deputy Commissioner Michael White, who testified in 2023 that domestic, family and sexual violence rates are of "epidemic proportion". During the inquest, police spoke about a co-responder model with social services, however the judge said the pilot would fail if not fully funded. Judge Armitage found prison programs and those available to young men who perpetrate violence were either inadequate or non-existent. During the course of the inquest, the coroner's office was aware of 86 domestic violence deaths of women in the NT, most of them Aboriginal, over the last 24 years. "Appallingly, eight Aboriginal women have died since June this year and a sister girl has also died, and all of these nine deaths are allegedly from domestic violence," the judge said. "The number of domestic violence deaths in the Northern Territory is truly shocking. "Not only is the violence more relentless in the Territory, it is more vicious. More weapons are used and the injuries inflicted on victims result in high rates of hospitalisation." As Judge Armitage reviewed the lives of each of the four women, she described them as women who lived rich lives steeped in culture and kinship. Their lives help the community understand the nature of the problem, she said. "Statistics are numbers, but their lives are not," the coroner said. "All these women lived and were loved." Despite a review of all domestic violence killings in the NT since 2000, Judge Armitage said the numbers do not include missing women and they do not include deaths closely connected, but not directly caused by domestic violence, such as suicides. "In the future I am sure we will also count these women, and the picture will be even bleaker." The coroner put services and the NT government on notice, declaring another inquest into the death of more women killed by domestic violence beginning in August 2025. "(That) will provide an excellent opportunity to review progress on the implementation of these recommendations." 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14