On 15 December 2014, gunman Man Haron Monis walked into the calm Lindt café in Sydney’s Martin Place and took 18 people hostage, holding them for 16 hours, as Australians held their breath to see how that terrifying ordeal would end.
In the early hours of the next day, police stormed the building to put an end to the siege, killing the gunman.
Two hostages, Tori Johnson, 34, and Sydney lawyer Katrina Dawson, 38, also lost their lives.
It has been three years since that day- and seven months since Coroner Michael Barnes announced his findings and made 44 recommendations following the siege in Sydney.
So how many of those recommendations have been actioned?
With criticism aimed at the police delay in going into the café after the gunman fired at the hostages, .
Lindt Cafe siege Inquest. Finding and recommendations. Source: NSW Justice website
On the third anniversary of the Lindt Café siege, SBS Arabic24 approached police and agencies to clarify what progress has been made in implementing the Coroner’s recommendations, that were .
Still being worked on…
"The NSW Police Force has completed 25 of the 28 coronial recommendations," a spokesperson for NSW Police told SBS Arabic24 in a written statement. "Work continues on the remaining three."
They did not specify which recommendations are still incomplete and why.
Some of the inquest’s 28 recommendations focus on empowering field police officers to react, coordinate and have access to information.
In the ninth recommendation of his inquest report Coroner Barnes states "I recommend that the NSW Police establish procedures and the technical capability to ensure that phone calls from hostages in sieges or the victims of other on-going high-risk situations are expeditiously transferred to officers involved in responding to the incident.”
Is new technology on the way?
In October 2017, media reports indicated that the NSW Police Force was planning to overhaul the triple zero emergency call system.
“New South Wales police are asking businesses to come up with ways to incorporate the latest technology in emergency dispatch systems,” the ABC reported.
NSW police did not confirm to SBS whether this was in line with the implementation of the inquest recommendations, but promised in their response that they would be “able to provide further detail over coming weeks.”
While most of the inquest recommendations are related to the NSW Police force, other federal and state agencies and departments also have some to action.
Coroner Michael Barnes asked, in recommendation 41 of his report, for the Australian Psychological Society to consider amending the confidentiality principle within its Code of Ethics, to enable “psychologists to report risks of a terrorist nature.”
The society did not respond to SBS's inquiries whether it had acted in accordance with Barnes’ recommendation but has so far received no response.
Federal fallout
Although the Lindt Café siege took place in New South Wales, it prompted all states and territories review their own counter-terrorism laws, regulations, and operational guidelines.
At the Federal level, the government took “a number of steps following the findings of the Joint Australian and New South Wales Government Review into the Martin Place Siege, which reported in February 2015,” a spokesperson for the Federal Attorney-General’s Department said.
Magistrate Michael Barnes’ inquest report made 12 recommendations to federal government agencies.
SBS Arabic24 submitted information requests to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the policing advisory agency ANZPAA, and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to find out how many of the 12 Commonwealth-related recommendations have been actioned.
On behalf of all of these agencies, a single government response was provided to all of the inquiries by the Attorney-General’s Department.
Work in progress
The Attorney General’s Department advised that federal government agencies are working towards giving “effect to the 12 Commonwealth-related recommendations of the Lindt Café siege inquest report” in collaboration with states and territories.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s office cited some examples.
“A policy to assist government departments and agencies to identify correspondence that may require referral to ASIO is now in place,” the Attorney General’s media spokesperson said.
The Attorney General’s Department emphasised that among the already-completed actions is the development and circulation of "new guidelines for dealing with high-risk situations.”
Several of Coroner Michael Barnes’ recommendations appear to involve changes to legislation, which would imply gradual implementation.
The Attorney General’s Department says the Government’s national approach to assessing and managing fixated threats is being carried out in stages and that its "first phase" has been completed.
Some heavyweight decisions have already been actioned.
The Attorney General’s office says these include an announcement by Prime Minister and Defence Minister in July 2017 to expand the role of the ADF "in assisting states and territories to respond to terrorist incidents."
