Aboriginal Incarceration

The European occupation of this land was founded in invasion and the racist assumptions of colonial powers that were expressed in terra nullius. One of the weapons of colonial powers and modern nation states is always imprisonment and over-policing.

Twenty years ago the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody sought to offer suggestions about ways to reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in prison and dying in prison. The figures were a scandal, and many promises were made. Yet almost nothing has been done; if anything the situation is worse.

A few months ago the Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs released the report ‘Doing Time – Time for Doing..’ The report found that Aboriginal juveniles and young adults were 28 times more likely than their non-Indigenous counterparts to be locked up in detention. In NSW 59% of the juvenile detention population is Aboriginal. In 1992 Indigenous peoples made up fourteen percent of the total prison population, and that had increased to twenty-one percent by 2004.

The causes of Aboriginal youth crime are well-documented: poor housing, poor health, mental illness, low participation in education and employment, substance abuse, cultural alienation and family dysfunction. Additionally there is some suggestion that police still target some parts of the community more than others. When Aboriginal people get to court they are often not provided with fair legal representation, cannot afford good support, and often receive harsher penalties than other members of the community.

There is a great need for government support for more support for Aboriginal Legal Aid, for substance abuse programs, for culture support programs, and for policing policies that shift from a focus on imprisonment to early intervention, diversion and community support.

As one small step we should encourage the NSW Government to change the Bail Act so that it is easier for children and young people to get bail, and less likely that they will be held in detention. Far too many young people are held in detention even though when they appear in court they will not get a custodial sentence.

As Christians we need to oppose the racist narrative that still accepts and justified this terrible destruction of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples.