SBS Revisits Kumanjayi Walker’s Death in 2.6 Seconds

Darren Dale's four-part documentary on the Yuendumu shooting and the trial that followed premieres on SBS and NITV on 10 November, free on SBS On Demand.

By Catherine Crowe November 3, 2026 3 min read

Photo: SBS / Jesse Marlow

The whole of Australia knows how the case ended. 2.6 Seconds: Death in the Outback asks how it began, and whether it had to. Darren Dale’s four-part documentary about the fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu premieres on SBS and NITV on Tuesday 10 November at 8:30pm, two years after it was first announced.

The series is a co-commission between the two networks, produced by Blackfella Films in association with PAW Media, and it marks Dale’s debut as a director after more than two decades producing.

What the series covers

Kumanjayi Walker was a 19-year-old Warlpiri Luritja man. He was shot during an attempted arrest at his grandmother’s home in Yuendumu, in the Northern Territory, and later died in police custody. The officer, Zachary Rolfe, was charged with murder and acquitted by a jury.

Nino Bucci and Warlpiri elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves with a third person in 2.6 Seconds: Death in the Outback — In pictures 2

Warlpiri elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves in 2.6 Seconds: Death in the Outback — In pictures 2

The series works through the events leading up to the shooting, the criminal trial and the aftermath for the family and the community. It draws on police body-worn camera footage, vision shot by community members, and interviews with Walker’s family and with police officers. Andrew Boe, who acted for Walker’s family at the coronial inquest, wrote the series and is an executive producer alongside Jacob Hickey. Samara Nangala Fernandez Brown and Rachael Nungarrayi Hocking are associate producers.

Dale frames the project around one question. “What happened in those 2.6 seconds made headlines across Australia,” he said, before asking: “did it have to end this way?”

Screen Australia‘s First Nations Department made a major production investment in association with SBS, with further support from Screen NSW. All3Media International, part of Banijay Entertainment, is attached for distribution.

The schedule

On broadcast, the series runs across four nights: Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11, Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 November. On SBS On Demand, episodes one and two are free to stream from 10 November and episodes three and four from 17 and 18 November, with subtitles in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese and Korean, plus audio description.

SBS and NITV have built a fortnight of programming around it. The Point On Country follows each premiere night at 9:30pm, with “Yuendumu: 7 Years On” on 10 November and “Yuendumu: Trust and Justice”, featuring Warlpiri elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, on 17 November. Dan Bourchier hosts a forum, Bridging The Justice Divide, at 9:30pm on 18 November, and Karla Grant interviews Boe for a Living Black special. A four-part vodcast, We Were There, runs from 17 to 20 November, and SBS On Demand is grouping related titles in The Justice Collection.

Where it has been, and who made it

The series had its world premiere in the Primetime programme at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, one of 10 episodic works selected. The Remote rounded up TIFF’s winners at the time; the Australian broadcast is the series’ first release at home.

Blackfella Films, founded by Rachel Perkins in 1992, has a long record of exactly this kind of national reckoning on SBS and the ABC, from First Australians and Redfern Now to Mabo, Total Control and The Australian Wars. Dale joined the company as a producer in 2001.

It is also one of the first major launches under SBS’s new content structure, which The Remote covered in SBS Puts One Executive in Charge of Content.

Where to watch

Australia: SBS and NITV, Tuesday 10 November at 8:30pm, continuing 11, 17 and 18 November. Free on SBS On Demand: episodes one and two from 10 November, three and four from 17 and 18 November.
New Zealand: No New Zealand broadcast or streaming date has been announced by SBS or the producers. Check Your Week on Screen, Down Under for local listings.
Companion programming: The Point On Country (10 and 17 November, 9:30pm), Bridging The Justice Divide (18 November, 9:30pm) and The Justice Collection on SBS On Demand.

Sources

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