WGAR News: Justice or an Unjust System? Aboriginal over-representation in South Australia's juvenile justice system: SACOSS youth justice report

Newsletter date: 4 April 2015

Contents:

* Report: SACOSS: Justice or an Unjust System? Aboriginal over-representation in South Australia's juvenile justice system
* Audio Interview: Marnie Round, Radio Adelaide: SACOSS youth justice report [Featuring SACOSS Senior Policy Officer, Dr Catherine Earl]
* Audio: Karen Ashford, SBS World News Radio: Legal mentoring gives Indigenous students inside insight
* News Analysis: Lauren Novak, The Advertiser: SACOS report finds SA could save more than $12m a year by cutting over-representation of Aboriginal youth the juvenile justice system

* Urgent Action: Amnesty International Australia: Stop WA's Bill for the mandatory sentencing of children
* Media Release: Amnesty International Australia: 12 organisations unite against harsh WA Bill
* Joint Statement: 12 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, community, legal & human rights organisations: Three strikes bill will result in more young people in detention
* Community Announcement: SNAICC: Strong opposition to WA bill that may increase number of youths in detention
* Take Action Online: Amnesty International Australia: Stop WA's mandatory sentencing of young people

* Audio Interview: Let's Talk's Tiga Bayles interviews Tammy Solonec - Indigenous Peoples' Rights Manager with Amnesty International
* Audio Interview: Let's Talk's Tiga Bayles interviews Priscilla Collins - CEO of the Northern Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA)

* Analysis / Opinion: Ross Kendall, Northern Star: $237,000 a year to keep a juvenile in jail - is it worth it?

* 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)

- Report

SACOSS - South Australian Council of Social Service: Justice or an Unjust System? Aboriginal over-representation in South Australia’s juvenile justice system
http://sacoss.org.au/justice-or-unjust-system-aboriginal-over-representa...
http://sacoss.org.au/sites/default/files/public/documents/Reports/150401...
31 Mar 15: "Twenty-times more likely to be imprisoned than the non-Aboriginal population and making up 46% of the young people in SA's detention centres, this report highlights the problem of over-representation of Aboriginal young people in this state's juvenile justice system. The report recommends a new approach to engage Aboriginal people at all levels in the justice system, with a formally negotiated Indigenous Justice Agreement as a first step."

- Audio Interview

Radio Adelaide: SACOSS youth justice report
https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/sacoss-youth-justice-report/
https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Catherine-Earl-...
31 Mar 15: "SACOSS has just released a report on the over-representation of Aboriginal young people in South Australia’s juvenile justice system. The rates are increasing, as are the human and economic costs. To talk more about the state of South Australia’s system, particularly these confronting rates of over-representation of Aboriginal young people, Small Change’s Marnie Round spoke with one of the main authors of this report, SACOSS Senior Policy Officer, Dr Catherine Earl." Produced by Marnie Round

- Audio

SBS World News Radio: Legal mentoring gives Indigenous students inside insight
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/04/02/legal-mentoring-gives-indi...
2 Apr 15: "More than 50 Adelaide lawyers have joined a program to mentor Indigenous law students, giving them valuable real-world experience as they prepare to enter the legal fraternity. It comes as a new report reveals that Aboriginal youth are 20 times more likely than others to be in detention - at a cost of $1,000 a day. Karen Ashford has the story. ... In 2005, a group of Adelaide legal professionals established a program to connect Indigenous law students with practising lawyers to give them inside knowledge of what is a very competitive profession. ... " By Karen Ashford

- News Analysis

The Advertiser: SACOS report finds SA could save more than $12m a year by cutting over-representation of Aboriginal youth the juvenile justice system
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sacos-report-finds-sa...
1 Apr 15: "SOUTH Australia could save more than $12 million a year if it addressed the over-representation of young Aboriginal people in the juvenile justice system, a report says. The SA Council of Social Service will launch a report on Wednesday, which finds Aboriginal youths are 19 times more likely to be in detention than their non-Aboriginal peers. The peak welfare body argues more resources should be targeted at addressing the causes of disadvantage which put Aboriginal youths at greater risk of detention." Lauren Novak, political reporter

- Urgent Action

Amnesty International Australia: Stop WA's Bill for the mandatory sentencing of children
The WA Parliament is going to vote on a Bill that will lock at least another 60 kids in prison each year. Call the Minister for Police today.
http://www.amnesty.org.au/activist/campaign-resource/36648
"Why do we need your help?:
The Western Australia Parliament is debating a Bill that will expand the "three strikes and you're out" laws for home burglaries. The Criminal Law Amendment (Home Burglary and Other Offences) Bill 2014 will have serious consequences for young people. The changes would mean that instead of offering rehabilitation or other community-lead alternatives, judges would have no choice but to lock up young people. WA's Indigenous young people would be at particular risk. ...
Update: The Bill passed the Lower House on Thursday 19 March. It could be passed in the Upper House and come into law as early as Thursday 26 March. Your action now is critical. Take action today and call on the Attorney General Michael Mischin to stop this Bill."

- Media Release

Amnesty International Australia: 12 organisations unite against harsh WA Bill
http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/36819/
18 Mar 15: "Amnesty International and 11 other Indigenous and legal organisations have sent an open letter to the Western Australian government urging it not to pass the controversial Criminal Law Amendment (Home Burglary and Other Offences) Bill 2014 in its current form.
Calls to withdraw bill:
The organisations have called on WA Premier Colin Barnett, Attorney-General Michael Mischin and Minister for Police Liza Harvey to withdraw the bill, or at least amend it so as not to apply to children.
The 12 National and local WA organisations are united in their condemnation of the Bill, which they say "expands the mandatory sentencing regime in Western Australia, including for 16–17-year-olds. This will adversely affect Aboriginal young people who are already massively over-represented in the justice system. In 2013-2014 Indigenous young people made up 78.3 per cent of all young people in detention in Western Australia, and were 53 times more likely to be in detention than non-Indigenous young people. ... "

- Joint Statement

Three strikes bill will result in more young people in detention
Joint statement to the Western Australian Government on the Criminal Law Amendment (Home Burglary and Other Offences) Bill 2014
http://www.amnesty.org.au/images/uploads/about/Home_Burglary_Bill_joint_...
18 Mar 15: "We write to raise serious concerns about the Criminal Law Amendment (Home Burglary and Other Offences) Bill 2014, and to urge you not to pass the Bill in its current form.
The Bill expands the mandatory sentencing regime in Western Australia, including for 16-17 year olds. This will adversely affect Aboriginal young people who are already massively over-represented in the justice system. In 2013-2014 Indigenous young people made up 78.3 per cent of all young people in detention in Western Australia, and were 53 times more likely to be in detention than non-Indigenous young people. ...
The Convention on the Rights of the Child states clearly that the arrest or imprisonment of a child, ‘shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time’. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has said that mandatory sentencing laws are contrary to international law. ...
We need solutions that work to increase community safety in WA without continuing the disproportionate and harmful detention of Aboriginal young people. Investing in Aboriginal-led and culturally relevant prevention, early intervention and diversion programs that target at-risk youngpeople is the best way to do this. ... " This statement is endorsed by 12 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, community, legal and human rights organisations

- Community Announcement

SNAICC - Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care: Strong opposition to WA bill that may increase number of youths in detention
http://www.snaicc.org.au/news-events/fx-articles.cfm?loadref=168&id=1232
31 Mar 15: "The organisations are united in their condemnation of the bill, which they say "expands the mandatory sentencing regime in Western Australia, including for 16–17-year-olds. This will adversely affect Aboriginal young people who are already massively over-represented in the justice system. ... ""
"The letter is signed by:
* Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Inc)
* Amnesty International Australia
* Australian Lawyers Alliance (WA)
* Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
* Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR)
* Civil Liberties Australia
* Deaths in Custody Watch Committee of Western Australia Inc
* Just Reinvest NSW
* Mens Outreach Service
* Mowanjum Aboriginal Corporation
* National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS)
* Western Australian Network of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies (WANADA)"

- Take Action Online

Amnesty International Australia: Stop WA’s mandatory sentencing of young people
http://www.amnesty.org.au/action/action/36767/
"Western Australia (WA) locks up Indigenous young people at the highest rate in Australia. Despite this, the WA Government hopes to pass a 'Home Burglary Bill' which, if successful, will send more young people between the ages of 16 and 17 to prison, and won't reduce burglaries. WA’s Premier Barnett is gutting our young peoples' futures. Tell him to scrap the Home Burglary Bill now. Indigenous young people in WA are already 58 times more likely to be in detention than other young people and if the Bill passes, judges will have no choice but to lock up even more of them. This Bill would not only contravene the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it would label young people as criminals incapable of reform and would leave them no pathways - except towards a prison cell. Tell WA’s Premier Barnett that it’s time to solve problems, not lock young people up."

- Audio Interview

Let's Talk's Tiga Bayles interviews Tammy Solonec - Indigenous Peoples' Rights Manager with Amnesty International
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/tammy-solonec-2/
31 Mar 15: "Link: http://www.amnesty.org.au/indigenous-rights/ "

- Audio Interview

Let's Talk's Tiga Bayles interviews Priscilla Collins, CEO of the Northern Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA)
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/priscilla-collins-10/
30 Mar 15: "Link:  http://www.naaja.org.au/ "

- Analysis / Opinion

Northern Star: $237,000 a year to keep a juvenile in jail - is it worth it?
http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/wasting-away-in-juvenile-jail/2571302/
12 Mar 15: "SPENDING as much as $237,000 a year keeping a juvenile in jail was a waste of money that could be much better spent on programs to modify behaviour, reduce crime and build communities according to Just Reinvest. The group is also committed to addressing the overrepresentation of Aboriginal young people in custody, Casino-born Bradley Freeburn executive committee member said. ... Just Reinvest is successfully trialling its program in Bourke and Cowra, and similar initiatives would work well in his hometown and Lismore, he said. ... " Ross Kendall

- 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: 3 April 2015)

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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)