Scripting dispossession: racialised logics in coronial law and preventable Indigenous deaths in the health system

ABSTRACT The article interrogates the coronial findings of a South Australian inquest into the deaths of six Indigenous people, showing how the coronial process operationalises racialised logics that simultaneously erase race and reinforce racism. Using critical discourse analysis informed by critical race theory, the article examines the narrative structure of the Coroner's findings, through the framework of a set-up, confrontation, and resolution, to show how blame is attributed to Indigenous people while institutional accountability is avoided following preventable Indigenous deaths in the health system. Through intertextual readings of coronial findings, the article challenges the purported neutrality of coronial law and calls for a deeper engagement with racism in understanding preventable Indigenous deaths.