Newsletter date: 10 April 2014
Contents:
* Joline Samawi, The Wire: Report reveals barries of access to law for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people [Featuring Dr. Warren Mundy]
* SBS: Barriers to justice system faced by Indigenous Aussies revealed in report
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Rosie Anne Fulton still languishing in prison - Government without moral compass
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Youth Justice Board will not succeed
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Mandatory Sentencing
* Patricia Monemvasitis, Mondaq: Mandatory sentencing and indigenous Australians
* Ross Gittins, Canberra Times: New ways needed to arrest indigenous imprisonment rates
* Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (ALSWA): Law Matters Programs [Featuring Associate Professor Ted Wilkes, Professor Fiona Stanley, Dennis Eggington & Peter Collins]
* Background to Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Public Health researcher calls on media to also report positive stories
* JOLINE SAMAWI, THE WIRE: REPORT REVEALS BARRIES OF ACCESS TO LAW FOR ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLE [FEATURING DR. WARREN MUNDY]
- Audio Interview
The Wire: Report reveals barries of access to law for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Produced by Joline Samawi
http://www.thewire.org.au/storyDetail.aspx?ID=11414
8 Apr 14: "A draft report released today by the productivity commission reveals some deepening concerns regarding the lack of access to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It highlights that language barriers, geographical isolation and financial literacy were contributing factors for in civil law issues. The Wire spoke to Dr Warren Mundy about the report.
Featured in story: Dr. Warren Mundy - Commissioner at the productivity commission."
* SBS: BARRIERS TO JUSTICE SYSTEM FACED BY INDIGENOUS AUSSIES REVEALED IN REPORT
- Video
SBS: Barriers to justice system faced by Indigenous Aussies revealed in report
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/04/08/barriers-justice-system-fa...
8 Apr 14: "Community legal centres are welcoming a draft Productivity Commission report which has found Australia's civil justice system is too slow, too expensive and too adversarial. ... The commission says opportunities to improve access to the system and cost-effectiveness. It also highlights particular difficulties faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and recommends funding priorities and culturally appropriate solutions."
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: ROSIE ANNE FULTON STILL LANGUISHING IN PRISON - GOVERNMENT WITHOUT MORAL COMPASS
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Rosie Anne Fulton still languishing in prison - Government without moral compass
http://thestringer.com.au/rosie-anne-fulton-still-languishing-in-prison-...
5 Apr 14: "Despite the Australian Senate in mid-March backing a motion calling for Federal assistance in releasing Rosie Annie Fulton from a Kalgoorlie-Boulder prison, Ms Fulton continues to languish. Promises have been made, including by Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion, that the intellectually disabled Northern Territorian woman jailed without conviction for 18 months, will be transferred to Alice Springs to be near her carer, Ian McKinlay and her family." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: YOUTH JUSTICE BOARD WILL NOT SUCCEED
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Youth Justice Board will not succeed
http://thestringer.com.au/youth-justice-board-will-not-succeed/
5 Apr 14: "Youth crime in Western Australia is on the rise with juvenile detention on the rise but it is Aboriginal youth finishing up in detention and onwards to the adult prison system. To combat the rise in juvenile detention, State Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis has set up a Youth Justice Board with the objective to steer as much of the offending youth into rehabilitative and diversionary programs. But this has been tried again and again, so will it work this time?" By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: MANDATORY SENTENCING
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Mandatory Sentencing
http://thestringer.com.au/mandatory-sentencing/
24 Mar 14: "Mandatory sentencing negatively impacts First Peoples in ways and in rates of incarceration that prove that they are targeted – racialised. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in Western Australia where First Peoples adult males are incarcerated, from a racialised measure, at the world’s highest rate. With recent debates for more mandatory policies, penalties and convictions the need for a public conversation needs to occur, one that can influence parliamentarians." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* PATRICIA MONEMVASITIS, MONDAQ: MANDATORY SENTENCING AND INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
- Analysis / Opinion
Mondaq: Mandatory sentencing and indigenous Australians
http://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/301102/Public+Order/Mandatory+sentenci...
21 Mar 14: "The recent debate of the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Assault and Intoxication) Act 2014 ('the Act') in New South Wales Parliament has sparked discussion of the impact mandatory sentencing has on Australia's indigenous population. ... the President of the New South Wales Bar Association, Phillip Boulton SC, has commented that "There's no evidence at all that mandatory sentencing ever decreases the amount of crime that's committed and it has the ability to act unfairly on vulnerable and disadvantaged groups."" Patricia Monemvasitis, Carroll & O'Dea
* ROSS GITTINS, CANBERRA TIMES: NEW WAYS NEEDED TO ARREST INDIGENOUS IMPRISONMENT RATES
- Analysis / Opinion
Canberra Times: New ways needed to arrest indigenous imprisonment rates
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/new-ways-needed-to-arrest-indige...
26 Mar 14: "You don't need me to tell you that in a country such as America, with all its history of racial conflict, the rate of imprisonment for African-Americans is far higher than the rate for whites. Twelve times higher, in fact. But you may need me to tell you we make the Yanks look good. Our rate of indigenous imprisonment is 18 times that for the rest of us. Aborigines make up 2.5 per cent of the Australian adult population, but account for 26 per cent of all adult Australian prisoners." Ross Gittins, economics editor of the SMH, economic columnist for The Age
* ABORIGINAL LEGAL SERVICE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA (ALSWA): LAW MATTERS PROGRAMS [FEATURING ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR TED WILKES, PROFESSOR FIONA STANLEY, DENNIS EGGINGTON & PETER COLLINS]
- Audio Interviews
Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (ALSWA): Law Matters Program 54
http://www.als.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=312:l...
http://www.als.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=...
5 Mar 14: "Associate Professor Ted Wilkes and Professor Fiona Stanley discuss the importance of Aboriginal involvement in seeking solutions in keeping families healthy and strong, following on from recent comments by Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan."
- Audio Interviews
Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (ALSWA): Law Matters Program 53
http://www.als.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=311:l...
http://www.als.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=...
19 Feb 14: "We chat with ALSWA CEO Dennis Eggington and ALSWA Director Legal Services Peter Collins about the important role played by ALSWA and the ongoing issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within the justice system. Topics include mandatory sentencing, PBO’s, human rights and ALSWA’s 40th anniversary, which will be celebrated later this year. We also let you know how ALSWA can assist with your enquiries about the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse."
* BACKGROUND TO JUSTICE REINVESTMENT, ABORIGINAL IMPRISONMENT AND ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY:
Last updated: 27 March 2014
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/17/background-to-aboriginal-imprisonment...
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCHER CALLS ON MEDIA TO ALSO REPORT POSITIVE STORIES
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Public Health researcher calls on media to also report positive stories
http://thestringer.com.au/public-health-researcher-calls-on-media-to-als...
7 Apr 14: "Curtin University’s Public Health Advocacy Institute of Western Australia researcher Dr Melissa Stoneham surveyed mainstream news press over a 12 month period and found that three quarters of the coverage of Aboriginal health was negative, with only 15 per cent positive. This would strike most Australians as a true reflection of the divide in health between First Peoples and non-Aboriginal Australians however Dr Sweet said the negative portrayals can be damaging. Dr Stoneham said there needed to be a concerted drive by journalists to find the good news stories in Aboriginal health and role model them for others to follow." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
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