This site uses cookies to personalise your experience. [51] Case Study: Read how swearing at police can not only land you in prison but also cost your life. [38] Data from AIHW 2015. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over-incarceration cost the Australian economy an estimated A$7.9 billion in 2016. To understand these high rates, one must know Aboriginal history. [49] 'The Australian children 24 times more likely to face jail than their peers', SMH 30/4/2015 'Jail paid to keep felons out', The Australian 14/12/2012 [14], Australia's proportion of adult Aboriginal prisoners ranges from 9% in Victoria to 84% in the Northern Territory. So jails and mental institutions are full of our people. Understand better. — Andreas. 'WA 'high achiever' - for locking up people', Koori Mail 455 p.10 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 … Stop reporting and start doing, lawyers tell NSW inquiry into 'inhumane' Indigenous incarceration. It took a petition attracting 17,000 signatures, pressure from the public, media and lawyers, and the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion writing a letter to the Queensland Premier asking to support early parole for Mr Wallace, to release him from jail. [11], Half of the 10- to 17-year-olds in jails are Aboriginal. [1] I like your open way to discover Aboriginal people's history and culture." [7a] Factor by which Aboriginal people across Australia are more likely to be imprisoned than non-Aboriginal people. In all my years of research in criminal justice, I can tell you it would be very difficult to find a white person charged with shouting or swearing. High rate of Aboriginal incarceration 'starts young', NSW inquiry hears. 'Inquiry reveals huge jail rates', Koori Mail 474 p.11 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”. [6a] [1], In 1992 there were 15,000 prisoners (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal), by 2012 that figure had doubled to 30,000, and in 2016 there were more than 38,800. [9a] [27a] ... who was shot while handcuffed in custody on a Lismore street in 2019. [14] “They are in higher security typically. We cannot flee persecution to another country because we are spiritually connected to our own ancestral lands. [2e] '2015 AMA Report Card on Indigenous Health - Closing the Gap on Indigenous Imprisonment Rates', Australian Medical Association, 2015 The homicide rate for Indigenous men has been increasing consistently since 2014. The other side of why Aboriginal prison rates are high appears to be through the indifference of non-Aboriginal people. Aboriginal educator Chris Sarra believes Australians should stop seeing Aboriginal people as a separate group. In the past, however, many departments have learnt to exploit this freedom to protect their own interests, rather than those of incarcerated Aboriginal people. that will solve the problem'. [22] No wonder that 90% of all Aboriginal prisoners are male. NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that, from 2000 to 2012, imprisonment rates for Aboriginal Australians increased from 1,727 to 2,346 Aboriginal prisoners per 100,000 adult Aboriginal population. [39] Stewart recounts that 70% Aboriginal women in prison have been sexually abused as children (cf. "Over-representation is both a persistent and growing problem — Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration rates increased 41 per cent between 2006 and 2016." [27] “There is a lot of research and statistics in these submissions [to the inquiry] but there is not a lot of research that prison actually works,” Mundine said. Since 1989, the imprisonment rate of Aboriginal people has increased 12 times faster than the rate for non-Aboriginal people. [46] Same rate for Aboriginal women: 0.6%; for African-American women in the US: 0.5%. Earlier, the Change the Record coalition – representing national justice groups working to end the disproportionate incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – reiterated its call to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 years old to at least 14. [12]. Similar to the youth and women’s cohorts, the increasing rates of incarceration of Aboriginal men is partly driven by a higher proportion of offenders being held on remand. Indigenous children are entering the justice system earlier than others and directly from out of home care, MPs told, Last modified on Mon 26 Oct 2020 23.06 EDT. [25] Many of his family members are already deceased. Percentage of all incarcerated women in Australia who were Aboriginal in 2016; of incarcerated men: 26.7%. [43] From 30 June 2019 to 30 June 2020, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male prisoners increased by 2% (253) to 10,963. [1] In 2016, around 20 in every 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were incarcerated. Australia is now facing an Indigenous incarceration epidemic. Percentage of Aboriginal prisoners who are male. [13] 'Jailing youth not working - Chief Justice', Koori Mail 473 p.13 'First time in 30 years - Considering Aboriginality in Sentencing', Aboriginal Legal Service, media release 2/8/2013 Australia owns a humanitarian crisis as the mother of jailers of its First Peoples. [34] Mundine lost both parents at a young age and was placed in out of home care, separated from his siblings. [2d] [48] 11 ], Half of the total population, yet more than 29 % all... €¦ Disproportionate incarceration rate above the global average in every 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait population! Aboriginal-Owned and led organisation come before Corrective Services to learn about Aboriginal culture in a fun and engaging way cultural... Using the site, you indicate that you are happy to receive cookies from this website a large to... Scratch without any loaded presumptions tolerate or completely ignore such dreadful incarceration rates incarceration. 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