Indigenous people are vastly over-represented in the Australian juvenile and criminal justice systems and the programs to keep them out are not working, a new report sponsored by the federal government shows.
The Clearinghouse Institute study is aimed at evaluating the state of our incarceration diversion programs- which includes mentoring, education and work experience programs that are aimed at avoiding unnecessary incarceration.
The report shows that that Indigenous participation and completion of these programs is poor and incarceration statistics are worsening each year.
The number of Indigenous prisoners increased by 64 per cent between 2000 and 2012, as compared to the non-indigenous increase of just 5 per cent.
Clearinghouse researcher Dr Fatwah Al-Yaman says this is a clear sign that we need to re-evaluate these programs and ensure they are culturally appropriate.
“Some of the Indigenous specific diversion programs where they have the Koori courts and so on - it’s been shown that they have been effective in improving court attendance, minimising court order breaches, reducing rates of reoffending and diverting offenders into rehabilitation,” she says.
She says that a lack of spaces, a lack of understanding of the justice system by Indigenous people, and even ineligibility due to previous offences, means that Indigenous people are getting lost in the mainstream system.
“Some of the programs have an entry requirement that you have not offended previously and quite a number of Indigenous people have already previously offended,” she says.
Listen: Extended interview with Dr Fatwah Al-Yaman
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Indigenous prisoners in 2011 had been imprisoned previously, compared to less than half (48%) of non-Indigenous prisoners, the report states.
The report also showed that the nature and type of offences that Indigenous people are incarcerated for are noticeably different from the non-Indigenous population.
Indigenous prisoners are more likely to have committed assault but are less likely to be imprisoned for drug-related matters.
This means that many of the mainstream diversion programs are missing the mark.
“Some of the mainstream diversion programs focus on illicit drugs rather than alcohol and a lot of the problems that Indigenous people need diversions for are alcohol-related,” she says.
