Newsletter date: 2 March 2013
Contents:
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Australia’s Aboriginal children - The world’s highest suicide rate
* The Stringer: Youth suicides - toll higher than Afghan war deaths
* NIRS: Higher rates of severe disability for Indigenous Australians: Research
* SBS Living Black: Heal Our Youth - Or Jail Them?
* NIRS: Gooda: "Stop locking Aboriginal people up who don't need to be locked up"
* ABC Radio Australia: Call for NSW intervention program to include indigenous youth
* Background to Aboriginal imprisonment and Deaths in Custody
* Other articles
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: AUSTRALIA'S ABORIGINAL CHILDREN - THE WORLD'S HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE
- News
The Stringer: Australia’s Aboriginal children - The world’s highest suicide rate
http://thestringer.com.au/australias-aboriginal-children-the-worlds-high...
27 Feb 13: "2012’s total spend on Aboriginal communities reached $25 billion yet Australia’s Aboriginal youth suicide rates remain high – cruelly disproportionate to the rest of the Australian population. This horror is played out the world over for Indigenous peoples but Australia’s Aboriginal peoples are at the top of this tragic list. ... The Stringer has visited Aboriginal communities throughout north-western Australia -visiting the towns and communities with the worst suicide rates. The despair is evident throughout these communities." by Gerry Georgatos
See:
The Stringer
http://thestringer.com.au/the-stringer/
24 Feb 13: "Independent News, Investigative Journalism, Multi Award winning writers
The Stringer went live on February 19 and was formally launched on February 25, 2013 at The Media at the Crossroads Conference at NSW Parliament’s Theatrette. Independent news media contributes to the unfolding landscape of human rights and social justice. It is our aim to provide every opportunity to the rise of voices that far too often are denied. ...
Kind Regards from The Stringer editors - Gerry Georgatos and Jennifer Kaeshagen."
* THE STRINGER: YOUTH SUICIDES - TOLL HIGHER THAN AFGHAN WAR DEATHS
- News
The Stringer: Youth suicides - toll higher than Afghan war deaths
http://thestringer.com.au/youth-suicides-toll-higher-than-afghan-war-dea...
5 Feb 13: "Kabi Kabi Elder and Bundaberg campus coordinator of Nulloo Yumbah at Central Queensland University, Cheri Yavu-Kama-Harathunian said she is devastated by the rising disenfranchisement of Aboriginal youth and the lack of action to end suicides by Australia’s Aboriginal children. ... "Across my desk came a study that reported the number of completed Indigenous suicides in the Kimberley last year exceeded the Australian Defence Force fatalities in Afghanistan. I cannot comprehend this statement. It is too much," Mrs Yavu-Kama-Harathunian said."
* NIRS: HIGHER RATES OF SEVERE DISABILITY FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: RESEARCH
- News
National Indigenous Radio Service: Higher rates of severe disability for Indigenous Australians: Research
http://www.nirs.org.au/news/latest-news/7888-higher-rates-of-severe-disa...
28 Feb 13: "Australian National University researchers say census data reveals Indigenous Australians are more likely to report a profound or severe disability than non-Indigenous people. The report looks at data from 2006 to 2011 and finds a rise in the number of Indigenous people reporting to be disabled. Researcher Nicholas Biddle says the results are important in the lead up to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. ... Executive Officer of the First Peoples Disability Network Damian Griffis says there are a lot of different reasons why the rates are high for Indigenous Australians."
* SBS LIVING BLACK: HEAL OUR YOUTH - OR JAIL THEM?
- Audio Interview
SBS Living Black: Heal Our Youth - Or Jail Them?
By Michelle Lovegrove
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/highlight/page/id/256006/t...
27 Feb 13: "An Aboriginal Youth Healing Centre in western New South Wales focuses healing the causes of youth crime. Independent reports on the benefits of rehabilitation over imprisonment have proven what many community leaders have known for a long time now. In Western New South Wales, a Brewarrina community Elder is leading the establishment of an Aboriginal Youth Healing Centre to reduce both crime and incarceration rates. ... Ngemba Elder Uncle Isaac Gordon heads up the establishment. ... Uncle Isaac tells Marc Tong about the proven methods he's using, to get results."
* NIRS: GOODA: "STOP LOCKING ABORIGINAL PEOPLE UP WHO DON'T NEED TO BE LOCKED UP"
- News
National Indigenous Radio Service: Gooda: "Stop locking Aboriginal people up who don't need to be locked up"
http://www.nirs.org.au/news/latest-news/7889-gooda-qstop-locking-aborigi...
28 Feb 13: "The Indigenous Social Justice Commissioner says he refuses to accept Indigenous Australians are some of the most criminal people in the world. Mick Gooda has criticised Australian governments for continuing to pursue policies of incarcerating Aboriginal people to reduce crime rates. Mr. Gooda says there are number of problems with the justice system locking up large numbers of Indigenous people in jails when there are alternative sentences available. He told 98.9fm he doesn't believe prisons are the best place to rehabilitate offenders ... "
* ABC RADIO AUSTRALIA: CALL FOR NSW INTERVENTION PROGRAM TO INCLUDE INDIGENOUS YOUTH
- Audio
ABC Radio Australia: Call for NSW intervention program to include indigenous youth
Presenter: Jennifer Macey
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-bea...
28 Feb 13: "An Aboriginal community is Australia says a new early intervention program into youth crime could fail if it does not target Indigenous children who make up the majority of juvenile prisoners. The New South Wales government is trialling a $10 million scheme called "Youth on Track" to help catch young people before they go to jail. It's been welcomed by criminologists and the New South Wales Aboriginal Legal Service. But there's concern that if it's not culturally specific those Aboriginal children most at risk may miss out."
* BACKGROUND TO ABORIGINAL IMPRISONMENT AND DEATHS IN CUSTODY:
Last updated: 28 February 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/17/background-to-aboriginal-imprisonment...
* OTHER ARTICLES:
- News
newsTracker: NSW cop stands by Aboriginal punch story
http://tracker.org.au/2013/02/nsw-cop-stands-by-aboriginal-punch-story/
28 Feb 13: "NEW SOUTH WALES: The police officer who accused an Aboriginal man of punching him says his original version of events was true, even though other officers now concede the attack never happened. Senior Constable David Hill acknowledges that CCTV footage of the incident shows no punch was thrown, but he stands by his original statement and previous court evidence."
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