WGAR News: Sisters Inside - Debbie Kilroy on [Aboriginal] women in prison: The Stringer

Newsletter date: 30 April 2013

Contents:

* Debbie Kilroy, The Stringer: Sisters Inside - Debbie Kilroy on the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in prison
* SBS Radionews Audio: Call for crime prevention focus to cut Indigenous jail rates
* The Stringer: KALACC lends its weight to Justice Reinvestment
* Priscilla Collins, Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT: Mandatory rehabilitation bill must be released for public consultation
* Ray Jackson, Green Left: Stop police self investigation
* Background to Aboriginal imprisonment and Deaths in Custody

* SBS Radionews Audio: Alarm over Indigenous suicide in WA

* Other articles

* DEBBIE KILROY, THE STRINGER: SISTERS INSIDE - DEBBIE KILROY ON THE OVER-REPRESENTATION OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER WOMEN IN PRISON

- Analysis

The Stringer: Sisters Inside - Debbie Kilroy on women in prison
http://thestringer.com.au/sisters-inside-debbie-kilroy-on-the-over-repre...
25 Apr 13: "Indigenous women are currently the most over-represented population in both Queensland and Australian prisons. In 2010 approximately 30% of all incarcerated women in Australia were Indigenous, while 24% of all incarcerated men were Indigenous (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010a). Based on this data, a conservative estimate indicates that Indigenous women are 16 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Indigenous women. ... Indigenous women in prison have broadly experienced a significant level of trauma and abuse beginning in childhood ... " By Debbie Kilroy

* SBS RADIONEWS AUDIO: CALL FOR CRIME PREVENTION FOCUS TO CUT INDIGENOUS JAIL RATES

- Audio

SBS Radionews Podcasts: Call for crime prevention focus to cut Indigenous jail rates
By David Crisante
http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/263688/Call-fo...
22 Apr 13: "There have been widespread calls for governments to change justice system funding arrangements in a bid to reduce the number of Indigenous Australians in jail. ... [Northern Territory Chief Magistrate] Ms Hannam says more than 80 per cent of the Territory's inmates in 2012 were Indigenous, even though Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders account for only 30 per cent of the Territory's population. She's calling for funding to be shifted from prisons to crime prevention. David Crisante reports."

* THE STRINGER: KALACC LENDS ITS WEIGHT TO JUSTICE REINVESTMENT

- News

The Stringer: KALACC lends its weight to Justice Reinvestment
http://thestringer.com.au/kalacc-lends-its-weight-to-justice-reinvestment/
22 Apr 13: "More than one hundred submissions have come from across the country to the Senate Inquiry into Justice Reinvestment. The Inquiry has been on the road recently hearing submissions in Perth and Sydney. In Perth, the Inquiry led by chair Senator Penny Wright, heard from one of the directors of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, Tammy Solonec and from the director of social policy from the Western Australian Council of Social Services, Chris Twomey. ... The Senate Inquiry committee asked for a submission from the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC)."

- Related News

National Indigenous Radio Service: Scullion sees sense in justice target
http://www.nirs.org.au/blog/NEWS/article/29120/Scullion-sees-sense-in-ju...
23 Apr 13: "The Federal Opposition’s Indigenous Affairs spokesperson says lowering the number of Indigenous Australians in jails would be a Closing the Gap target if the Coalition were in power."

Australian: Close gap targets 'to include jail rate'
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/close-gap-ta...
23 Apr 13: "REDUCING the incarceration rate of Aborigines would be added to the official Closing the Gap targets under a Coalition government, as part of a major rethink of the goals and measures needed to end indigenous disadvantage. In an interview with The Australian, opposition indigenous affairs spokesman Nigel Scullion said he believed a campaign by leading Aboriginal groups to include justice as an official target needed to be considered because the levels at which indigenous Australians were held in jail were alarmingly high." Patricia Karvelas

* PRISCILLA COLLINS, ABORIGINAL PEAK ORGANISATIONS NT: MANDATORY REHABILITATION BILL MUST BE RELEASED FOR PUBLIC CONSULTATION

- Letter

Alice Springs News: Letter: Mandatory rehabilitation bill must be released for public consultation
http://www.alicespringsnews.com.au/2013/04/24/letter-mandatory-rehabilit...
24 Apr 13: "The NT Government to release its mandatory rehabilitation legislation for public consultation prior to the next Parliamentary sittings in mid-May. On April 11 the government announced it would introduce legislation in the next Parliamentary sittings to require repeat problem drinkers to undertake mandatory alcohol treatment. APO NT believes it is vital for key stakeholders to be provided with an opportunity to consider the legislation, and to provide feedback on the impacts and workability of rolling-out this unprecedented scheme, to demonstrate that this is about health outcomes not politics ... " Priscilla Collins, CEO, Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT

* RAY JACKSON, GREEN LEFT: STOP POLICE SELF INVESTIGATION

- Analysis / Opinion

Green Left: Stop police self investigation
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53887
23 Apr 13: "To mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting of four Aboriginal teenagers in Kings Cross, a rally will be held on April 26 to demand an end to police investigating cases of police violence. The rally will gather outside the Kings Cross police station to voice disapproval of the police involved in the shooting of the unarmed youths in April last year. Since January 1, 1980, over 200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have died in police custody." By Ray Jackson

* BACKGROUND TO ABORIGINAL IMPRISONMENT AND DEATHS IN CUSTODY:

Last updated: 23 April 2013

http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/17/background-to-aboriginal-imprisonment...

* SBS RADIONEWS AUDIO: ALARM OVER INDIGENOUS SUICIDE IN WA

- Audio

SBS Radionews Podcasts: Alarm over Indigenous suicide in WA
By Ryan Emery
http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/264404/Alarm-o...
26 Apr 13: "A West Australian Aboriginal Corporation says the state's suicide rate among Indigenous people has reached crisis point. The Dumbartung Aboriginal Corporation is holding a summit next month to address the issue and is calling on the state government and other agencies to take part. The corporation's director Robert Eggington says WA's Indigenous community, particularly the Noongar people, are in a panic about the reportedly high suicide rates. ... He told Western Australia correspondent Ryan Emery, the number of suicides being reported to his organisation is alarming."

- Related Audio

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
http://caama.com.au/radio#tabs-6
http://caama.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/am-29-04.mp3
29 Apr 13: "An alarming rise in the Western Australia’s Aboriginal youth Suicide rate in the past 4 months has sparked a call for a crisis summit."

* OTHER ARTICLES:

- Audio

National Indigenous Radio Service: Australia at risk of another Stolen Generation: SNAICC
http://www.nirs.org.au/blog/NEWS/article/29117/Australia-at-risk-of-anot...
23 Apr 13: "A peak Indigenous child care agency says Australia is at risk of another Stolen Generation if action isn’t taken to address the increasing number of children removed from their families."

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