WGAR News: Keep kids in communities and out of detention: Amnesty International Australia

Newsletter date: 13 June 2015

Contents:

* News Analysis: Amnesty International Australia: Australia must back Indigenous expertise to end crisis of children's incarceration
[Featuring Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty, launching a national report at the National Press Club]

* News Analysis: Amnesty International Australia: Nation's highest rates of Aboriginal children in detention a source of shame for WA
* News Analysis: Amnesty International Australia: Western Australia: keep kids in communities and out of detention

* News Analysis: Amnesty International Australia: Bourke: working with Indigenous kids

* News Analysis: Amnesty International Australia: A brighter tomorrow for Indigenous kids

* Research Report: Amnesty International: A brighter tomorrow: keeping Indigenous kids in the community and out of detention in Australia

* About: Indigenous Peoples' Rights - Amnesty International Australia: http://www.amnesty.org.au/indigenous-rights/

* Activist Portal: Community Is Everything - Amnesty International Australia: http://www.amnesty.org.au/activist/campaign/35616/

* News Analysis: Allan Clarke, BuzzFeed: Indigenous Kids Behind Bars Are 'A New Lost Generation'
* News Analysis: Allan Clarke, BuzzFeed: Western Australia Slammed For Locking Up Indigenous Kids
* Bio: Allan Clarke on BuzzFeed: http://www.buzzfeed.com/allanclarke

* News Analysis: Amy McQuire, New Matilda: Rates Of Aboriginal Youth Detention In WA Could Breach International Obligations, Report Warns
* Bio: Amy McQuire - New Matilda: https://newmatilda.com/users/amy-mcquire
* About: New Matilda - About Us: https://newmatilda.com/about-us

* Audio Interview: Let's Talk's Tiga Bayles interviews Amy McQuire: http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/amy-mcquire-8/
* Podcasts: Let's Talk 98.9 FM: http://www.989fm.com.au/category/podcasts/lets-talk/

* Homepage of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia - ALSWA: http://www.als.org.au/

* WGAR Background: Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal deaths in custody

WGAR News Public Google Group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news
WGAR News - Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

- News Analysis

Amnesty International Australia: Australia must back Indigenous expertise to end crisis of children’s incarceration
http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/37303/
2 Jun 15: "Indigenous communities are taking new, innovative approaches to keep children out of detention - but their success hinges on Australian government support, to reverse Australia’s crisis of Indigenous youth incarceration, said Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty, launching a national report at the National Press Club today. Salil Shetty is in Australia to call on the Government to support Indigenous-led justice reinvestment programs, in response to the soaring overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in detention, who are incarcerated at 24 times the rate of non-Indigenous children. ... In Australia it costs $440,000 per year to detain each child, meaning the cost of just one year of detention could instead put a young Indigenous person through an entire undergraduate medical degree. ... "

- News Analysis

Amnesty International Australia: Nation's highest rates of Aboriginal children in detention a source of shame for WA
http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/37399/
11 Jun 15: "An Amnesty International research report released today finds Western Australia incarcerates Indigenous young people at the highest rates in Australia - and those rates are rising. The report ‘There is always a brighter future: Keeping Indigenous kids in the community and out of detention in Western Australia’, was three years in the making, and includes research in Albany, Bunbury, Perth, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton, Broome, Mowanjum, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek and Kununurra. ... "

- News Analysis

Amnesty International Australia: Western Australia: keep kids in communities and out of detention
http://www.amnesty.org.au/indigenous-rights/comments/37394/
10 Jun 15: "Western Australia has the highest rate of over-representation of Indigenous youth in detention in Australia. Amnesty International’s report, "There is always a brighter future: Keeping Indigenous kids in the community and out of detention in Western Australia" finds many ways that the Western Australian Government can reduce the numbers of young Aboriginal people incarcerated in the state. The report is based on research carried out between mid-2013 and early 2015, and is informed by conversations and interviews with Aboriginal people, including representatives of Aboriginal organisations working with young people; court officers and lawyers of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (The ALSWA) and other Aboriginal organisations throughout Western Australia. ... "

- News Analysis

Amnesty International Australia: Bourke: working with Indigenous kids
http://www.amnesty.org.au/indigenous-rights/comments/37364/
5 Jun 15: "The country town of Bourke, New South Wales is the first place in Australia to trial a community-led justice reinvestment approach to keep kids out of detention. Initiated and led by the Aboriginal community, the initiative is now tackling the social issues that get kids into trouble in the first place. They’re keeping kids in communities, where they belong. ... "

- News Analysis

Amnesty International Australia: A brighter tomorrow for Indigenous kids
http://www.amnesty.org.au/indigenous-rights/comments/37328/
2 Jun 15: "Kids have healthy, happy childhoods when they live in loving and nurturing communities. It’s kids’ connections with family and community that allows them to flourish, and sets them up for life. But government policies are separating Indigenous kids from their communities. By locking up kids as young as 10, we are repeating our past mistakes and threatening our future as a fair, just and harmonious community. Amnesty International Australia’s researchers have been gathering the full story on Australia's high rate of Indigenous youth incarceration. We've now released the report, "A brighter tomorrow: keeping Indigenous kids in the community and out of detention in Australia," which details how the Australian Government can reduce the numbers of young Indigenous people incarcerated across the country. ... "

- Research Report

Amnesty International: A brighter tomorrow: keeping Indigenous kids in the community and out of detention in Australia
National Summary: http://www.amnesty.org.au/resources/activist/A_brighter_future_national_...
Full Report: http://www.amnesty.org.au/images/uploads/aus/A_brighter_future_National_...

- About

Indigenous Peoples' Rights - Amnesty International Australia
http://www.amnesty.org.au/indigenous-rights/

- Activist Portal

Community Is Everything - Amnesty International Australia
http://www.amnesty.org.au/activist/campaign/35616/

NSW Launch
https://www.facebook.com/events/1562301174021755/

- News Analysis

BuzzFeed: Indigenous Kids Behind Bars Are 'A New Lost Generation'
http://www.buzzfeed.com/allanclarke/indigenous-kids-behind-bars-are-a-ne...
10 Jun 15: "Elders in the Kimberley region of Western Australia are in despair and say they’re losing a generation of young people to life behind bars. ... Elders in the Kimberley region of Western Australia are in despair and say they’re losing a generation of young people to life behind bars. "There’s a lot of black kids in there [juvenile detention]. You see a lot of new black kids come in there everyday" - Sidney Griffith, Kununurra man. ... " Allan Clarke, BuzzFeed News Reporter, reporting From Kununurra, Western Australia

- News Analysis

BuzzFeed: Western Australia Slammed For Locking Up Indigenous Kids
http://www.buzzfeed.com/allanclarke/western-australia-slammed-for-lockin...
11 Jun 15: "Aboriginal young people are 53 times more likely to be in detention than their non-Indigenous peers. ... "Detention should be the absolute last resort" Amnesty International have released a report highlighting the prolific number of young Indigenous people incarcerated in Western Australia. The human rights charity is urging WA’s Government to invest in community based diversionary programs to stem the rising numbers. ... " Allan Clarke, BuzzFeed News Reporter, reporting From Kununurra, Western Australia

- Bio

Allan Clarke on BuzzFeed
http://www.buzzfeed.com/allanclarke
"Allan Clarke is the Indigenous Affairs Reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Sydney."

- News Analysis

New Matilda: Rates Of Aboriginal Youth Detention In WA Could Breach International Obligations, Report Warns
https://newmatilda.com/2015/06/11/rates-aboriginal-youth-detention-wa-co...
11 Jun 15: "Locking up children is supposed to be a last resort, but a shocking number of Aboriginal juveniles are being detained because 'there is nowhere else for them to go'. Amy McQuire reports. Over 70 per cent of youth on remand and awaiting sentencing in Western Australia are Aboriginal, a new Amnesty report has revealed, raising concerns that the state is contravening international obligations that say locking up children should be a last resort. ... " By Amy McQuire, a senior reporter with New Matilda. A Darumbul woman from central Queensland, Amy McQuire is the former editor of the National Indigenous Times and Tracker

- Bio

Amy McQuire - New Matilda
https://newmatilda.com/users/amy-mcquire

- About

New Matilda - About Us
https://newmatilda.com/about-us
" ... The Funding Model: Our readers are our investors. New Matilda is predominantly reader-funded and remains fiercely independent, with no affiliation to any political party, lobby group or other media organisation. Become a New Matilda funder here: https://newmatilda.com/be-a-supporter
The Mission: We believe that robust media is fundamental to a healthy democracy - and there's never been a more important time for independent media in Australia. With shrinking media diversity, and huge changes underway in delivery, there are fewer and fewer outlets publishing independent-minded journalism like ours. ... "

- Audio Interview

Let's Talk's Tiga Bayles interviews Amy McQuire

Amy McQuire - Let's Talk 98.9 FM
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/amy-mcquire-8/
9 Jun 15: "A Darumbul woman from central Queensland, Amy McQuire is the former editor of the National Indigenous Times and Tracker magazine. She is currently a senior reporter with New Matilda. ... "

- Podcasts

Let's Talk 98.9 FM
http://www.989fm.com.au/category/podcasts/lets-talk/

- Homepage

Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia - ALSWA
http://www.als.org.au/

- Background

WGAR Background: Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal deaths in custody
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-justice-reinvestment...
(last updated: 28 May 2015)

- - -

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

About WGAR News:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news

Subscription to 'WGAR News' is free.

'WGAR News' monitors the media, including alternative media, focusing on:

* The Freedom Summit's National Freedom Movement;
* the Australian Federal government intervention into Northern Territory (NT) Aboriginal communities;
* Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in Western Australia (WA), South Australia (SA), [and Northern Territory (NT)?];
* Treaties with Aboriginal Sovereign Nations of Australia;
* the Aboriginal sovereignty movement and the Aboriginal tent embassies;
* Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal Deaths in Custody;
* Aboriginal land rights and mining;
* Suicide and self-harm in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities;
* Removal of Aboriginal children and the continuing Stolen Generation;
* Aboriginal peoples and the impact of the Australian Federal Budget;
* Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing;
* other Aboriginal rights issues; and
* upcoming Aboriginal rights events around Australia.

'WGAR News' gives priority to grassroots Aboriginal voices and grassroots voices in solidarity with Aboriginal peoples' rights.

The role of 'WGAR News' is to facilitate the voices of others, and as such, 'WGAR News' rarely writes its own articles.

'WGAR News' publishes information and opinions from a wide range of sources.
These opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of WGAR.

The e-newsletters include media releases, opinion pieces, news items, audio, videos and events.

Subscribers can expect to receive about 5-6 e-newsletters each week.

To subscribe, email wgar.news@gmail.com and include the words "subscribe WGAR News" in the message header.

To unsubscribe, email wgar.news@gmail.com and include the words "unsubscribe WGAR News" in the message header.

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)