Attorneys General Urge Action on Aboriginal Incarceration

A meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys General on July 21st - 22nd 2011 has agreed to make recommendations to the Commonwealth for action on reducing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rates.

A post-meeting Communique stated:

"Ministers discussed the unacceptable rates of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Doing Time – Time for Doing Report and agreed:

• (a) to significantly reduce the gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offending and victimisation and to accurately track and review progress with a view to reviewing the level of effort required to achieve outcomes.

• (b) to ask First Ministers to refer to COAG the possible adoption of justice specific Indigenous Closing the Gap targets, acknowledging that in many instances their relative occurrence are due to variable factors outside the justice system."

View the full text of the Communique here.

A National Call to Action

15th April 2011 marked 20 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handed their Final Report to the Governor-General. The Report found that there are "disproportionate numbers of Aboriginal people in custody, compared with non-Aboriginal people" and that "too many Aboriginal people are in custody too often." Yet 20 years later this problem is even worse.

ANTaR used this occasion to launch a National Call to Action for federal, state and territory governments to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system. This Call to Action is also supported by a wide range of Aboriginal and community legal services and human rights organisations. It calls for:

• Federal, State and Territory governments to adopt a National Plan at COAG level with targets for reducing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rates;

• improved police accountability and standards in all places of detention through the introduction of independent investigations of police conduct and inspections of all places of detention;

• a commitment to a Justice Reinvestment approach, which involves diverting some of the funds currently spent on prisons into communities with a high concentration of offenders to fund initiatives that will reduce rates of offending. This approach has been recommended in many reports, including ones from the Australian Human Rights Commission and a range of Parliamentary Committees.

ANTaR will be campaigning on this issue through 2011 and we'd love to have your support.

You can read a full copy of the National Call to Action at this link.

'Call to Action" launched in WA

Perth rally where ANTaR's Call to Action was launched on 15 April 2011.

ROYAL COMMISSION INTO ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY - 20 YEARS ON

20 years ago, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) produced its Final Report. The Commission took four years to compile its 5000 page report with 339 recommendations, examining 99 deaths in custody.

The most wide-ranging inquiry ever conducted into the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the Criminal Justice System found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were disproportionately over-represented within the prison population. Poor housing and health care, lack of education and employment within Indigenous communities were identified as factors which contributed to this over-representation.

The Report's recommendations sought to tackle this problem in several ways; legal reform to reduce levels of Indigenous incarceration, awareness training for people already working in the Criminal Justice System, changes to police internment procedures to minimise the risk of harm and government action on dealing with the underlying social issues of health, housing and education.

The majority of RCIADIC recommendations remain unimplemented and rates of incarceration have actually risen in the past decade with Aboriginal people now 14 times more likely to be in jail that non-Aboriginal people; this figure rises to 28 times more likely for Aboriginal juveniles.

Monitoring the implementation of the Commission's findings has been patchy across Australia, a situation described as "unacceptably poor" by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. There have been 269 Aboriginal Deaths in Custody since the report's release.

A Time for Doing - House of Representatives Committee Report

June 2011 - The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs has just concluded their inquiry into the high level of involvement of Indigenous juveniles and young adults in the criminal justice system entitled Doing Time - A Time for Doing: Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system..

The full Report can be viewed and downloaded here.

ANTaR's media statement in response to the report.

ANTaR's January 2011 submission to the Inquiry can be viewed here.

The submission details some of the key principles which should be followed to reduce the involvement of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with the criminal justice justice and also proposes exploring a justice reinvestment approach.

The Federal Government's Response to the Doing Time Report can be downloaded here.

Recent reports and other related information

Government Response to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs report: Doing Time – Time for Doing: Indigenous Youth in the Criminal Justice System

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Report

According to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, almost half (49%) of all young people locked up in juvenile detention centres are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander despite the fact they make up just five per cent of the population. They make up 38%

On an average day in 2009/10, there were 7250 young people under some kind of supervision. About 86 per cent were in the community while 14 per cent were being held in detention.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people spent four more days under community-based supervision during the year than their non-indigenous counterparts and 2.5 more weeks in detention. They are were also more likely to have a supervision history involving detention

Australian Institute of Criminology Report on Rehabilitation

Prison-Based Correctional Offender Rehabilitation Programs: The 2009
National Picture in Australia

In recent years, correctional administrators both in Australia and overseas have invested significant resources in the development and delivery of offender rehabilitation programs. These initiatives have
occurred in the context of an impressive evidence base, attesting to the notion that such efforts are likely to have a greater impact on recidivism than incarceration alone and perhaps now, more than any
time in the last 30 years, there is widespread optimism that such initiatives will help to reduce reoffending and improve community safety.
The report provides an updated account of the nature and scope of custodial-based offender rehabilitation
programs in Australia.
View the Report here.

Research Brief: Promising interventions to reduce Indigenous juvenile offending

This was produced by the Indigenous Justice Clearinghouse. It details the effectiveness of various measures and programs aimed reducing which aim to reduce the rates of offending by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander under the age of 18.

Read the report here (PDF 800KB). Published March 2011.

Briefing Paper: Reducing Indigenous contact with the court system

This paper was produced by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. It examines the relationship between the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander defendants appearing in the NSW Local Court and the rate of recidivism.

Download the report here.
Published December 2010.

Some Recent Success Stories

Red Dust Healing
Red Dust Healing was founded by two Aboriginal men with many years experience working with young people in the criminal justice system - Tom Powell and Randal Ross.
Recognising that mainstream prisons and rehabilitation programs were not meeting the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth, Tom created a cultural healing and emotional wellbeing program, developed with Randal, to address trauma and build self esteem.
Read about Red Dust Healing here.

Gamarada Men's Self Healing Program
Gamarada means ‘comrades or friends’ in the Gadigal language. It is a program that attempts to create a holistic mix of largely Aboriginal and Eastern methods of self healing that will create a greater respect for Aboriginality, with Aboriginal people creating not only a program for themselves, but a program that can be offered as a means of healing and coming together with the wider community.
The Redfern based Gamarada healing and life skills program recently piloted a new two day transportable workshop in Wagga Wagga NSW. The project was part of the Mental Health Legal Services project administered by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, which identifies healing services as being important in the nexus between Indigenous men and the criminal justice system.
Gamarada are running another workshop at Redfern Community Centre on 31/5/11, 5.30-8.30
For more info see http://www.gamarada.org.au/.

Books Behind Bars
'Books Behind Bars' is an NSW Aboriginal Land Council initiative to promote literacy amongst our prison population in NSW.

Report: Restoring order: crime prevention, policing and local justice in Queensland's Indigenous communities

This report draws on extensive consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and their serving police officers as well as comprehensive research and policy analysis.
Download from the Crime and Misconduct Commission (PDF 3.9MB)
Published: November 2009

Report: Juvenile justice in Australia 2007-08

Each day, around 6,000 young people are under juvenile justice supervision in Australia. This report is the fifth in the series on young people under juvenile justice supervision. It shows that the number of young people in detention on an average day increased by 17% over four years from 2004-05 and that over half of those in detention on average day in 2007-08 were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. The report contains information on the characteristics of young people under community-based supervision and in detention as well the type and length of their supervision.
Published: 4 November 2009.

Report: Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage

Every second year, the Australian Government Productivity Commission publishes this report.
Last published 2 July 2009.

Report: Bridges and barriers - Addressing Indigenous Incarceration and Health

Prisoner health is an important priority and the National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee of Australian National Council on Drugs is keen to see young Indigenous men and women diverted from a life of substance misuse and crime. Hopefully through the recommendations of this paper the future of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and their children may be secured within a nutritive and safe environment. Download the report (PDF 420k).
June 2009.

Report: Funding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services: Issues of equity and access

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services play a crucial role in the representation of Indigenous defendants. Given the fraught relationship of Aboriginal people with the criminal justice system and the legal system in general, and the ever-deepening crisis of over-representation, adequate resourcing of these services is an extremely important administration of justice issue. This article looks at the nature of the demands and extent of the workload of ATSILS, especially in comparison to Legal Aid Commissions. It argues that the static funding environment that ATSILS operate in results in compromisedcapacity to provide adequate services to the sector of the population that arguably needs the best possible quality legal services. Download the report (PDF 200k). 2008

Report: Reintegration of Indigenous prisoners

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. To date, the lack of a national study into Indigenous reoffending has hampered understanding of the problem and implications for policy. The Australian Institute of Criminology released this report, which is available on their website.
August 2008.

Report: Winnunga Prison Health Study

This project was initiated by the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service (WNAHS) in response to the construction of the ACT’s first prison, the Alexander Maconochie Correctional Centre, which was due for completion and to receive its first inmates in 2008. Through its current work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inmates at Goulburn and Cooma prisons in NSW, and the Belconnen Remand Centre and Quamby Youth Detention Centre in the ACT, WNAHS recognised the ACT prison opening as an opportunity to improve the appropriateness and effectiveness of health care delivery to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inmates of custodial institutions.
5 June 2008.

Report: Aboriginal incarceration: health and social impacts

Article by Anthea S Krieg, published in the MJA. Download the report (PDF 176k).
15 May 2006.

ABS Statistics: Corrective Services Australia

Quarterly statistics on incarceration, including incarceration of Indigenous people.

Media coverage of the launch ANTaR's Call to Action on imprisonment

15th May 2011: Interview on ABC Radio National PM, 20 years on, Aboriginal incarceration still high’

ABC Online, ‘Deaths in custody rally slams lack of change’.

Interview with the Wire on 20 years from Royal Commission.

NineMSM, ‘WA rally marks deaths in custody report’.

All things considered — a range of opinions

To give you a complete picture about Aboriginal people's contact with the criminal justice system, here's a range of perspectives. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of ANTaR, but we think they should be considered and thoughtfully debated.

• Speech by Attorney-General the Hon Robert McClelland MP - Vigilance Against Injustice in the Justice Systems - 7 September 2011
• Law Council calls for urgent action on high rates of Indigenous juvenile incarceration - 22nd June 2011.
• Call for radical intervention on juvenile justice - ABC News 25 May 2011.
• A long hard look inside our jails would benefit all of us - Sydney Morning Herald 4 February 2011
• Helping the village raise the child - Sydney Morning Herald, 19 December 2009
• Blow-out in Aboriginal imprisonment numbers rises to 83% - The Australian, 27 November 2009
• Gap still there for Indigenous youth - Sydney Morning Herald, 4 November 2009
• Indigenous offenders working on farm - Herald Sun 5 August 2009
• NT has 'one of world's highest' jail rates - ABC News, 23 June 2009
• Juvenile justice report declared a state secret - Adele Horin, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 June 2009
• Soaring jail rates justify change of tactics: report - Joel Gibson, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 June 2009
• 'Over-policing to blame' for Indigenous prison rates - ABC News, 25 June 2009
• Justice demands royal commission into circumstances surrounding Mulrunji death - ANTaR Queensland, 21 December 2008
• Justive Valerie French has hope for Aboriginal inmates - The Australian, 24 October 2008
• WA jailing too many Aborigines, says sociologist - The Australian, 5 September 2008
• Locked In, Locked Out - Sea Change, Issue 2 - Winter 2008
• Police to sit on Hurley findings from Palm Island - The Australian, 12 August 2008
• Unfinished Business - Mulrunji's death and the need for reform - Jeff Waters, 29 July 2008

What can be done to stop so many Aboriginal people going to prison?

We encourage considered, respectful and where necessary provocative debate. Please feel welcome to have your say, and in turn allow others to have their say without responding in anger or distrust.

ANTaR reserves the right to delete any comment that contains offensive, defamatory or discriminatory content. If you feel any of these comments are of this nature, please let us know.