In fact, repeat offending and re-incarceration is a large contributor to this high rate of imprisonment. [19] In December 2019 the rate was 2,536 prisoners per 100,000 adult Aboriginal population, compared to 218 prisoners per 100,000 non-Aboriginal population. [21a] [16d] The article focuses on NSW prisons. Over the 4-year period, the number of young people in detention rose, though rates … We cannot flee persecution to another country because we are spiritually connected to our own ancestral lands. 'Inside stories', SMH Good Weekend 13/2/2010 pp29 'Inquiry reveals huge jail rates', Koori Mail 474 p.11 [40] [13a] The availability and effectiveness of prison programs 94 . Australian governments rely blindly on their departments to find a solution without guiding them. Aboriginal singer Vic Simms sung his way out of Bathurst Jail. Stewart recounts that 70% Aboriginal women in prison have been sexually abused as children (cf. [53] [12] Factor by which an Aboriginal driver is more likely to be fined for seatbelt offences than non-Aboriginal drivers. [9] [28] [51] Stop reporting and start doing, lawyers tell NSW inquiry into 'inhumane' Indigenous incarceration. ... My statement to the UN #HRC41 about the high rates of incarceration of Aboriginal & … 'Decades of driver disqualification finally driving Government to action', Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), email 3/3/2011 [33], Australia-wide, about one in four prisoners will convicted again within 3 months of their release from prison, between 35 and 41% within 2 years. In the past, however, many departments have learnt to exploit this freedom to protect their own interests, rather than those of incarcerated Aboriginal people. ... who was shot while handcuffed in custody on a Lismore street in 2019. The Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT and Just Reinvest NSW are demanding a response from State and Federal Governments to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) report, Pathway to Justice Inquiry into the Incarceration Rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait … For example, it prevents elders passing down traditional knowledge to the next generation. [23]. '2075.0 - Census of Population and Housing - Counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians 2011', Australian Bureau of Statistics, 21/6/2012 You have government departments who say, 'just lock them up. Aboriginal-sensi…, Despite sweeping reforms by the Keating government following the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the…, Experts and reports proposed numerous measures to reduce incarceration rates of Aboriginal people. Articles and resources that help you expand on this: Already a disadvantaged group, Aboriginal people's mental health suffers badly when they are imprisoned. 'Stop reporting and start doing, lawyers tell NSW inquiry into 'inhumane' Indigenous incarceration', The Guardian 26/10/2020 What you cannot get away from is that the rate of Indigenous imprisonment in Western Australia is far greater than anywhere else in the country and indeed it compares with the worst rates of imprisonment, of African Americans in the United States. Tweet. [57] Many factors work together and some of them include the following: [38]. High rate of Aboriginal incarceration 'starts young', NSW inquiry hears. [7], A study of incarcerated women revealed that 67% of all Aboriginal women in prison had been incarcerated previously, while almost half this number of non-Aboriginal women had a history of incarceration. NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs Australia is now facing an Indigenous incarceration epidemic. '4512.0 - Corrective Services, Australia, December Quarter 2019', Australian Bureau of Statistics 12/3/2020 'Incarceration rates increase', Koori Mail 473 p.13 Mundine lost both parents at a young age and was placed in out of home care, separated from his siblings. According to the memo, which has subsequently been circulated to a parliamentary committee investigating high rates of Aboriginal incarceration in NSW, the LECC’s analysis found 40% of people subject to consorting laws in NSW between February 2019 and June 2020 were Indigenous. Poem by Reuben Scott, Bathurst [36]. Number of reports that have been written on Aboriginal prison rates over several decades. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult imprisonment rates increased by 72% between 2000 and 2019. Although Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults make up around 2% of the national population, they constitute 27% of the national prison population. He also has mental health and health issues and started using drugs and alcohol from age 12, self medicating for years to “block the voices out”. [12d] [1a] According to Bureau of Crime statistics and research, Aboriginal people in custody were younger when they first interacted with police and when they were first convicted compared to non-Aboriginal people in custody, and experienced higher rates of contact at all levels of the criminal justice system. There is a persistent feeling among Aboriginal communities and legal experts that police treat Aboriginal people differently for trivial offences. [22a] They become self-protective and self-preserving. 'Sisters Inside – Debbie Kilroy on women in prison', The Stringer 25/4/2013 On an average day in 2017-18, unsentenced (remanded) prisoners accounted for 38.0% of Aboriginal men and approximately 31% of non-Aboriginal men in prison. 5. Stop feeling bad about not knowing. Make it fun to know better. 'Melbourne pensioner reveals why he paid jailed WA mum’s fines', NITV News 4/10/2017 In December 2019, the Indigenous incarceration rate was 2,536 prisoners per 100,000 adults in the Aboriginal population, compared to 218 prisoners per 100,000 … [1] In 2016, around 20 in every 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were incarcerated. [2e] The term 'mass-incarceration' is used to characterise the imprisonment of African American people in the United States, but incarceration of [Australian] Aboriginal women and children, in particular, are 20 times that. Rates of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have increased by 40% in the decade since the CTG framework to reduce health inequity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians has been in place, from 1,524.4 per 100,000 in 2008 to 2,141.6 in 2017. 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