Aboriginal prison rates

We are at a state of emergency, we can't afford any more experiment. —Shane Phillips, Tribal Warrior Association, about Aboriginal prison rates [17]

The Alice Springs Prison is so far beyond capacity that it's refusing to take prisoners. —Mark O'Reilly, principal legal officer, Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, in 2011 [30]

As the chart above shows Indigenous people represent on average 17% of the prison population except in Western Australia and the Northern Territory where they account for 43% and 84%.

Yet, as the yellow line shows, Aboriginal people make up less than 5% of each state's population except for the Northern Territory where they account for 31.6%.

Since 1989, the imprisonment rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has increased 12 times faster than the rate for non-Indigenous people [19].

Half of the 10- to 17-year-olds in jails are Indigenous [3].

The fact is, every year it gets worse.—Gino Vumbaca, Executive Director, Australian National Council on Drugs, about Aboriginal prison rates [3]

Prison rates highest in Western Australia

Western Australia always had a higher incarceration rate of Aboriginal people compared to the rest of Australia, and rates have nearly doubled between 1990 and 2010 [15].

A parliamentary report in 2010 found the rate of Aboriginal people jailed per 100,000 people in Western Australia was 2,483, while the figure for African Americans in the United States is 2,290 [15].

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. —Bob Debus, chair of the federal inquiry into the over-representation of Indigenous young people in the criminal justice system [13]

With high levels of alcohol and substance abuse, lack of services of any kind, high unemployment rates, low levels of education and child abuse it is no surprise that there is a high rate of reoffending. 80% of jailed Aboriginal male juveniles, 64% of Aboriginal female juveniles and 70% of adult Aboriginal males reoffend [15].

"Research indicates that time in a juvenile justice centre is the most significant factor in increasing the odds of recidivism [reoffending]," says Father Chris Riley, founder of Youth off the Streets [21].

The Summertime Bathurst Blues

In the morning breeze, I hear the sounds,
of early spirit bird tunes
As the sun shines in, the walls cave in,
and light out glows the moon.

Guards stroll up, the wing gates bang,
the day has now begun
Half restless dreams, that should have been.
I live 'em -1 believe I can

I miss the waves, down near caves
And watch the news,
But I'm in here, all alone
With the summertime Bathurst Blues

Poem by Reuben Scott, Bathurst [29]. Aboriginal singer Vic Simms sung his way out of Bathurst Jail. Read more Aboriginal poetry.

Where do these prison rates come from?

To understand these high rates, one must know Aboriginal history. Many factors work together and some of them include the following [4]:

• Stolen Generations. Those taken away from their families as a child are twice as likely to be arrested than their peers.
• Police behaviour. Police might act racist, violently or inappropriately (see below for more on this).
• Offence criminalisation. Aboriginal people are 15 times more likely to be charged for swearing or offensive behaviour than the rest of the community.
• Social and economic situation. Poverty and unemployment, particularly for young Aboriginal people or in rural and remote areas ('crimes of need').
• People's attitude. Some police and community members have a "law and order" attitude.
• Lack of language skills. Some Aboriginal people are sentenced to jail without them fully understanding the court process because English is not their first language [5].
• Foetal alcohol syndrome. Many children enter the justice system because their mother drank too much alcohol during her pregnancy. Her children are often unable to appreciate the consequences of their actions [13].
• Family breakdown due to various social factors.
• Disintegration seems to manifest in deliberate attempts to strip away Aboriginal culture in some communities [17].
• Lack of accommodation. The Children's Court is often being told imprisonment was the only option [17].
• Inflexible funding. Bureaucracy prohibits progress when programs cannot go ahead due to red tape [17].

There's no doubt that prison has a ripple effect on every family, especially if the member in prison was supporting the family.—Justice Valerie French, chairman Prisoners Review Board [6]

Non-Aboriginal indifference

The other side of why Aboriginal prison rates are high appears to be through the indifference of non-Aboriginal people.

Australian governments rely blindly on their departments to find a solution without guiding them. In the past, however, many departments have learnt to exploit this freedom to protect their own interests, rather than those of incarcerated Aboriginal people. They become self-protective and self-preserving.

Police remain hard-hearted and indifferent to prison rates and, in some cases, Aboriginal prisoners themselves. Recommendations of the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody were cherry-picked for those that could be accepted without too much change occurring [22].

You have government departments who say, 'just lock them up. that will solve the problem'. —Joan Baptie, Magistrate and convenor of the Youth Drug and Alcohol Court of New South Wales [17]

"Incredibly trivial offences"

There is a persistent feeling among Aboriginal communities and legal experts that police treat Aboriginal people differently for trivial offences.

Some Aboriginal people end up in jail because they did not get the postal notifications of court dates after which bench warrants are issued and bail is unlikely [11].

Others simply cannot make it to a court date due to funerals or health problems and courts are too inflexible to change the date [25].

Youth who might never have seen a traffic light or a freeway have difficulties getting a license because remote communities lack trainers and facilities, and the language used for driving tests is inappropriate. When they then get caught repeatedly driving unlicensed and end up in jail [12]. In many Aboriginal communities only one person holds a drivers license.

In New South Wales, the Local Court is required to add a further 5-year disqualification period under the Roads and Traffic Authority Traffic Act's Habitual Offender Scheme introduced for people who commit 3 serious traffic offences in 5 years [16]. This means some people who collected too many offences in their youth might get disqualified from driving until they are for example 50 years old. This has dire consequences for the standard of living, finding work and managing children.

"Every day of the week we act for Aboriginal people who've been charged with disorderly conduct," says Peter Collins, Legal Director of Aboriginal Legal Services in Western Australia (ALSWA) [9].

"Their crime: To swear at the police. They use the F word, they use the C word. Often they're drunk or affected by drugs or both, or they've got a mental illness or they're homeless or whatever."

"But it seems to me the only people in this day and age who are offended by the use of the F word and the C word are police. And so these [Aboriginal] people are hauled before the courts for these incredibly trivial offences."

According to Western Australia Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan police are not prejudiced against Aboriginal people or any other racial group. This, however, is a statement which meets little love among Aboriginal communities.

"There have been a number of instances where our men and women have been flogged or abused by police... When they're going off because of the abuse that's happened to them, they're being put down the back and they've got no support," says Marianne McKay, Co-deputy Chair of the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee of Western Australia [14].

Case Study: Read how swearing at police can not only land you in prison but also cost your life. An Aboriginal man's death becomes the most prolonged investigation in the criminal justice system for an Indigenous community. The Tall Man

How can we reduce Aboriginal crime rates?

As with many programs designed to 'cure' Aboriginal issues, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. A program that works in Menindee might not work in Wilcannia at all. Or vice versa.

Many towns and communities need adequate legal representation to avoid Aboriginal people being remanded for extended periods of time without contact from a lawyer. The Aboriginal Legal Service needs to be notified in all cases to provide support. Generally, lawyers and advocates need more time and resources when working with government agencies [25].

Employment and Indigenous leadership seem to be two crucial ingredients for a successful recipe.

In Menindee, a strong group of Aboriginal women held positions on committees and worked as liaison officers with police. When there was no police around it were the women who dealt with the offenders.

Jobs in tourism and horticulutre as well as traineeships for high school students gave the youth of Menindee something to aim for.

Both programs helped to reduce the rates of domestic violence to one fourth of those in Wilcannia [7]. The women in the committee felt that they could control decisions that affected them.

Be careful though when you compare Aboriginal communities. Wilcannia is bigger, more remote and has more Aboriginal inhabitants than Menindee.

For young offenders sport, music and IT have been suggested as the three main passages into their imaginations, or a mentoring program. "That costs a lot of money," admits Sam Jeffries, former co-chair of the Congress of Australia's First Peoples, "but we are quite comfortable and relaxed about accepting the cost to society when they are institutionalised." [17].

A promising approach to reduce recidivism (when offenders re-offend) is circle sentencing where Aboriginal people judge their peers along with jurisdictional experts. Canadian Aboriginal people were successful in reducing recidivism rates through development of discrete and culturally designed programs, including the world's first Aboriginal-run prison [23].

High recidivism rates for Aboriginal juveniles tell us that a punitive response is simply not working. —Wayne Martin, Western Australian Chief Justice [13]

Community Corrections orders allow offenders to be supervised in their community while doing programs that address their crimes. Unfortunately not many Aboriginal people are put on this program, especially in regional or remote communities, due to a lack of resources [18].

Justice reinvestment (JR) is a criminal justice approach that diverts a portion of funds spent on imprisonment to local communities where there is a high concentration of offenders. Money that would have been spent on imprisonment is reinvested in programs and services that address the underlying causes of crime in these communities [19].

"Under a justice reinvestment approach, if there is a connection in a community between crime and drug and alcohol problems, then services are established to address these problems. If the drug and alcohol problems are symptoms of other issues like poor parenting, or family violence, then services are established to address these problems," explains Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda [19].

Justice reinvestment has been proven in some USA states and the UK to be cheaper than building prisons and to have a bigger impact on creating safe communities [26].

Critics warn that custodial projects are already struggling financially and that allocations should not be reduced further [28]. There would be no control if all monies taken from custodial projects were diverted to justice reinvestment schemes. Also, police "work to their own rules" and might not collaborate with justice reinvestment staff.

No government trial, pilot scheme or merely a wish-list will ever succeed, because the police will not allow it to happen if it even remotely threatens their power bases. —Ray Jackson, President, Indigenous Social Justice Association [28]

In Port Augusta an Aboriginal unit provides 'culturally appropriate detention' and programs. Facing the Flinders Ranges it is hoped that the unit is more comforting to those held off-country [8].

Spiritual healing programs have been introduced in regional South Australia along with Aboriginal liaison officers. Spiritual healing draws on the strength, wisdom and spirit of Aboriginal ancestors, Elders and the land to heal the spirit of Aboriginal people by strengthening the connections to family, community, land and culture.

The only effective rehabilitation system we have for Aboriginal men is prison, because that is where they get fed, are given some education and forced to give up alcohol.—Dr Alex Brown, Baker Institute, Alice Springs [4]

Shifting the blame is another approach to help turn around Aboriginal prison rates. It is easy "hiding behind the excuse of racism" and pretend it's the government's responsibility to prevent Aboriginal people going to prison [20].

Once Aboriginal people stop "claiming that the past is to blame for the wrong decisions" that land them in jail they might realise that they have a hand in changing their current situation.

You can put an individual offender through the best-resourced, most effective rehabilitation program, but if they are returning to a community with few opportunities, their chances of staying out of prison are limited. —Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner [10]

Out of respect for Aboriginal culture I use Indigenous sources as much as possible.
[1] 'Prisoners in Australia', ABS 2007; 'Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians', ABS 2006 [2] ABS 1999, Australian Institute of Criminology 1995 [3] 'Inmate levels worsen', Koori Mail 454 p.14 [4] NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs [5] Koori Mail 390 p.68 [6] NIT 30/10/2008 p.26 citing The Australian [7] 'Leadership improves quality of life: report', SMH 19/2/2009 [8] 'Govt accoused over jail deaths report', Koori Mail 458 p.10 [9] 'Freddo Frog case dropped', Koori Mail 465 p.11 [10] 'Calma's final report points to brighter future', Koori Mail 468 p.7 [11] 'Incarceration rates increase', Koori Mail 473 p.13 [12] 'Jailing youth not working - Chief Justice', Koori Mail 473 p.13 [13] 'Inquiry reveals huge jail rates', Koori Mail 474 p.11 [14] 'Waiting for action', Koori Mail 487 p.10 [15] 'WA's high jail rate in spotlight', Koori Mail 490 p.16 [16] 'Decades of driver disqualification finally driving Government to action', Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), email 3/3/2011 [17] 'Jail rates at cirsis point, inquiry told', Koori Mail 494 p.13 [18] 'New approach call over jail numbers', Koori Mail 498 p.9 [19] '20 years later, and 269 more are dead', Koori Mail 499 p.5 [20] 'Tough love needed', reader's letter, Koori Mail 502 p.25 [21] 'Juvenile jail rate slammed', Koori Mail 504 p.7 [22] 'Incarcerations: The sad truth', Koori Mail 504 p.27 [23] 'Call for more prison research', Koori Mail 415 p.32 [24] 'New prisons is not the answer - legal service', Koori Mail 403 p.19 [25] 'Justice focus in WA', Koori Mail 400 p.10 [26] 'Give reinvestment in justice a fair go', Koori Mail 505 p.24 [27] 'Long way to go to end disadvantage', Koori Mail 509 p.9 [28] 'Towards a just system', Koori Mail 511 p.24 [29] 'The Summertime Bathurst Blues', Koori Mail 516 p.23 [30] 'Packed prison sparks concern', Koori Mail 517 p.9