Mick Mundine arrested over alleged 1986 child sexual assault in Redfern
Mick Mundine, the 79-year-old chief executive officer of Aboriginal Housing Company, has been arrested following a police investigation into alleged historical sexual assault of a child more than 40 years ago. The investigation, Strike Force Millersburg, was established in December 2025 to examine alleged assaults on a then 15-year-old girl in Sydney's Redfern in June 1986.
Mundine was arrested on Thursday, 8 October 2026, at approximately 7am in Redfern and taken to Newtown Police Station for questioning. The longstanding community figure has worked at Aboriginal Housing Company since the 1970s, initially as a painter before rising to chief executive, and has been instrumental in efforts to preserve Aboriginal land ownership and housing in Redfern's inner city.
- CEO arrested over 1986 child sexual assault allegations
- Investigation launched December 2025, arrest made October 2026
- Mundine prominent Redfern community leader for over 50 years
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Mick Mundine is a prominent figure in Sydney's Aboriginal community who has spent nearly five decades working at Aboriginal Housing Company. He began as a painter in the 1970s and rose to become the organisation's chief executive, playing a central role in efforts to preserve Aboriginal land ownership and housing in Redfern's inner city. His work has made him a well-known and influential community leader.
Police have been investigating alleged historical sexual assault dating back more than four decades. The investigation centres on allegations involving a 15-year-old girl in Redfern in June 1986, with inquiries established in December 2025. Such cases often take many years for survivors to come forward.
The case is significant because Mundine has been a central figure in Aboriginal community work in Redfern for decades, particularly in housing and land ownership. Historical sexual assault allegations involving prominent community figures can have important implications for the organisations and communities they have served.
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The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Child sexual abuse allegations merit serious investigation and prosecution regardless of when they occurred or the accused's standing in society. Victims deserve the right to justice and accountability, and this right should not be diminished by the passage of time or be subordinated to the reputation of the accused. Particularly in Aboriginal communities where institutional trust has been historically damaged, demonstrating that no individual escapes accountability for serious abuse is essential for system credibility.
The case against
Historical allegations from over four decades past present substantial challenges to fair trial and due process protections. Memory reliability degrades significantly over such periods, evidence is lost, witnesses become unavailable, and the accused faces nearly insurmountable difficulty in mounting an adequate defence. This raises genuine concerns about whether criminal justice can fairly operate in such circumstances, and whether investigative resources might be more effectively deployed to prevent current abuse rather than pursue prosecutions where ordinary mechanisms of proof and cross-examination are inherently compromised.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Aboriginal Housing Company boss Mick Mundine arrested over historical child sexual assault allegations”.