If we collectively support the families’ calls and call on governments to act, we can end this injustice once and for all. We cannot, and must not, wait another generation for change.

In the absence of government leadership, our grieving families and communities are leading the way to change the nation.

“Systemic and shocking failures”; “Regular, repeated and distressing mistreatment”; “Ignored at the highest levels”: these are the findings of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory, which on Friday released their report describing a brutal and barbaric injustice system for kids.

Kumanjayi Langdon was a proud Warlpiri man from Yuendumu. He was an artist who contributed to his community and culture. He wrote and illustrated children’s books and posters, and had worked at Yurrampi Crafts as a designer. His public mural of the local footy team, the Yuendumu Magpies, is in the middle of town. One of his paintings hangs in the National Gallery of Victoria.