Chelsea Watego claims that during court proceedings, police lawyers asked her “what she was doing out at night” given that she is a “mother of five”.
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.On a Saturday morning in December 2018, Chelsea Watego stepped out of the Brisbane Watchhouse, bruises on her body and trauma on her mind.Chelsea Watego, who has worked for more than 20 years as an Aboriginal health worker and researcher, was also called to give evidence at the inquiry into police responses to domestic and family violence last year.
A guard recounted – “too dramatically”, according to court documents – that she had taken “a swing” as she flailed her arm towards his face.“The security guard placed her in a hold from behind and frog marched her towards the exit of the club. [Watego] then dropped her weight to the floor. The security guard then dragged her on her back along the floor,” the documents state.
Watego, a professor of Indigenous health at QUT’s School of Public Health and Social Work, explains she pursued a complaint through the QHRC against police, alleging she was given less favourable treatment than the white man on the grounds of race, in contravention of the Anti-Discrimination Act.Watego was ordered to pay $7500 in costs
“Regrettably, there is a very real potential for this decision to make First Nations people even less likely to lodge complaints about discrimination.”Watego was charged but the offences were dropped after she pleaded guilty to a substituted charge of using obscene language in a public place. She was fined $80.“I spent a night at the city watchhouse. I walked out with bruises on my body, and yet I had to pay for a race discrimination process as well.
Under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, it is lawful for an officer to make an arrest without a warrant if the officer reasonably suspects an adult has committed or is committing an offence.
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