Newsletter date: 30 May 2013
Contents:
* Australian Institute of Criminology: Deaths in custody in Australia to 30 June 2011
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Report on Deaths in Custody - people dying at high rates
* Inga Ting, SMH: Policy failure as prisons fill with indigenous people
* Paul Simpson and Michael Doyle, ABC The Drum Opinion: Indigenous prison rates are a national shame
* SBS World News: 'No lessons learned' on Aboriginal deaths
* Cairns Post: Concern as Aboriginal deaths in custody rise
* Bundaberg News Mail: Aboriginal incarceration rates hitting crisis levels
* NIRS: Surge in death in custody numbers
* SBS Radionews: Australia under fire in human rights report
* Tracker: Australia failing on human rights: Amnesty
* ABC: Amnesty report slams Indigenous detention rates
* Background to Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Deaths in Custody
* AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGY: DEATHS IN CUSTUDY IN AUSTRALIA TO 30 JUNE 2011
- Report
Australian Institute of Criminology: Deaths in custody in Australia to 30 June 2011
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/mr/1-20/20.html
May 2013: "Abstract: Compiled for two decades by the Australian Institute of Criminology, this report found both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous rates of deaths in custody have decreased over the last decade and are now some of the lowest ever seen (0.16 per 100 Indigenous prisoners and 0.22 per 100 non-Indigenous prisoners in 2010–11). For the last eight years in a row, the Indigenous rate of death in prison has been lower than the equivalent non-Indigenous rate.
While Indigenous prisoners continue to be statistically less likely to die in custody than non-Indigenous prisoners, there is a concerning trend emerging, as the actual number of Indigenous deaths in prison are rising again, with 14 in 2009-10 which is equal to the highest on record.
More concerning still is that over the 20 years since the Royal Commission, the proportion of prisoners that are Indigenous has almost doubled from 14% in 1991 to 26% in 2011."
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: REPORT ON DEATHS IN CUSTODY - PEOPLE DYING AT HIGH RATES
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Report on Deaths in Custody - people dying at high rates
http://thestringer.com.au/report-on-deaths-in-custody-people-dying-at-hi...
24 May 13: "Today, the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus welcomed the National Deaths in Custody Program Monitoring Report (NIDCP) finding that deaths in custody rates have decreased significantly in the past decade. Let us have a look if this is really the case. The reality is that Aboriginal deaths in custody are one the rise. The report is published by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC). ... In 2010-11 there were 85 total deaths in custody of which 21 were Aboriginal deaths and therefore 25 per cent. Therefore it appears that indeed Aboriginal deaths in custody appear on the rise rather than decreasing, ... " By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* INGA TING, SMH: POLICY FAILURE AS PRISONS FILL WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
- Analysis / Opinion
SMH: Policy failure as prisons fill with indigenous people
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/policy-failure-as-prisons-fill-with-indige...
27 May 13: "Last week the Australian Institute of Criminology delivered its long-awaited report into deaths in custody. Its national deaths in custody program was established after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in recognition that timely, accurate data was crucial to reducing the unacceptably high number of deaths in our prison and police systems. That this report is not months but years late is a snub to the importance of that goal." Inga Ting
* PAUL SIMPSON AND MICHAEL DOYLE, ABC THE DRUM OPINION: INDIGENOUS PRISON RATES ARE A NATIONAL SHAME
- Analysis / Opinion
ABC The Drum Opinion: Indigenous prison rates are a national shame
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4717444.html
28 May 13: "Indigenous Australians make up more than a quarter of Australia's prisoner population. It's a social policy disaster. Paul Simpson and Michael Doyle offer one solution. The continual rise in incarceration rates of Indigenous Australians represents nothing short of social policy disaster. If reducing the numbers of those in prison is to be achieved, then we need to end the reliance on incarceration and invest more into new thinking and rigorous research on non-incarceration alternatives." Paul Simpson and Michael Doyle
* SBS WORLD NEWS: 'NO LESSONS LEARNED' ON ABORIGINAL DEATHS
- Video
SBS World News: 'No lessons learned' on Aboriginal deaths
Source: AAP
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1770480/No-lessons-learned-on-Aborigi...
24 May 13: "An Aboriginal justice agency says authorities have failed to learn past lessons, after new figures showed rising numbers of indigenous deaths in custody. ... North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) principal legal officer Jonathon Hunyor said authorities had not learned lessons from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which handed down its findings in 1991. "If we want to reduce the number of Aboriginal people who die in custody, we have got to deal with the causes of the gross over-representation in custody," Mr Hunyor said."
- Related Audio
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
http://caama.com.au/radio#tabs-6
http://caama.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/am-29-05.mp3
29 May 13: "Australia’s peak Aboriginal and Islander representative body has described growing rates of incarceration of its peoples as an "international epidemic"."
* CAIRNS POST: CONCERN AS ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY RISE
- News
Cairns Post: Concern as Aboriginal deaths in custody rise
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2013/05/26/242872_local-news.html
26 May 13: "ABORIGINAL deaths in custody are on the rise again, 20 years after a royal commission into the issue. The Australian Institute of Criminology released a report yesterday saying the number of indigenous deaths had increased over the past five years. ... "At the heart of the problem is the over-representation of indigenous people at every stage of the criminal justice system," the report said. The report says efforts to reduce indigenous deaths in custody must focus on reducing the number of indigenous people in prison."
* BUNDABERG NEW MAIL: ABORIGINAL INCARCERATION RATES HITTING CRISIS LEVELS
- News
Bundaberg News Mail: Aboriginal incarceration rates hitting crisis levels
http://www.news-mail.com.au/news/apn-newsdeskthe-number-of-aboriginal-pe...
25 May 13: " THE number of Aboriginal people dying behind bars is again on the rise, a new report shows. The National Deaths in Custody Program Monitoring Report, compiled by the Australian Institute of Criminology, found the number of Aboriginal deaths in custody had risen in recent years. Fifteen indigenous prisoners died in custody in 2008/09, 20 in 2009/10 and 21 in 2010/11. The report also highlighted the "over-representation" of Aboriginal people in Australia's prisons, adding it was at " the heart of the problem"."
* NIRS: SURGE IN DEATH IN CUSTODY NUMBERS
- Audio
National Indigenous Radio Service: Surge in death in custody numbers
http://www.nirs.org.au/blog/NEWS/article/29310/Surge-in-death-in-custody...
28 May 13: "An Aboriginal rights campaigner says the application of all Royal Commission recommendations would have prevented an increase in the number of Aboriginal people dying in custody over the last five years. ... North Queensland’s Professor Gracelyn Smallwood says government money to address the underlying causes of high incarcerations rates hasn’t filtered down to communities."
* SBS RADIONEWS: AUSTRALIA UNDER FIRE IN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
- Audio
SBS Radionews: Australia under fire in human rights report
By Ron Sutton and Michael Kenny
http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/268482/Austral...
23 May 13: "Australia comes in for some tough criticism in the annual human rights report by Amnesty International. ... The report also calls on Australia's state and federal governments to work more closely to address the high rate of Indigenous incarceration. Amnesty says Indigenous youths account for nearly three in five inmates in juvenile detention, despite Indigenous people making up only two per cent of the nation's population. Claire Mallinson says all levels of government are not taking the problem seriously enough. "One of Amnesty's real worries is the increasing Indigenous incarceration rate. ... ""
* TRACKER: AUSTRALIA FAILING ON HUMAN RIGHTS: AMNESTY
- News
newsTracker: Australia failing on human rights: Amnesty
http://tracker.org.au/2013/05/australia-failing-on-human-rights-amnesty/
23 May 13: "NATIONAL: Australia is failing to live up to its promise to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable people, Amnesty International says in its latest report card on global human rights. ... The report is also critical of Australia’s treatment of Aboriginal people, pointing to high incarceration rates."
* ABC: AMNESTY REPORT SLAMS INDIGENOUS DETENTION RATES
- News
ABC: Amnesty report slams Indigenous detention rates
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-23/amnesty-international-reports-indi...
23 May 13: "A report by Amnesty International says Australia must address its soaring Indigenous incarceration rates. The State of the World's Human Rights report, which was released this week, notes that Indigenous adults are 14 times more likely to be in the nation's jails than non-indigenous people. Indigenous youths are 28 times more likely to be in detention. The Northern Territory has the highest rate, with 80 per cent of adults and 95 per cent of youths in jail and juvenile detention identifying as Indigenous." By Jane Bardon
* BACKGROUND TO JUSTICE REINVESTMENT, ABORIGINAL IMPRISONMENT AND DEATHS IN CUSTODY:
Last updated: 15 May 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/17/background-to-aboriginal-imprisonment...
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