Justice

On Monday 27 November outside Parliament House in Canberra, ANTaR and the Change the Record Campaign launched the Free to be Kids Plan of Action to tackle the over-imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth.

Read ANTaR's Submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission Inquiry into Incarceration Rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

National advocacy organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, ANTaR, today called for immediate action to address the systemic and individual failures in the justice system, in light of the Ms Dhu Coronial Inquest findings.

ANTaR National Director Andrew Meehan, said he was deeply disturbed by the video footage showing the inhumane treatment of Ms Dhu, and that the findings of the Inquiry demonstrate that urgent action is required to prevent such cases occurring again.

Read more in ANTaR's Media Release

ANTaR, national advocacy organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, today called on all governments to listen to First Peoples in order to address crisis levels of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. 

National Campaigns Manager, Ms Jane Powles said that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have been calling for the implementation of Justice Reinvestment since 2009 to address high incarceration rates.” 

“Its about time governments started to listen,” she said. 

Last night’s episode of ABC’s Four Corners featuring one of the first Justice Reinvestment trial sites in Australia, highlighted the common sense approach that Justice Reinvestment supports.  

Learn more from ANTaR's full media release.

Today over 100 organisations, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak representative bodies, have released an Open Statement welcoming Prime Minister Turnbull’s Royal Commission into the horrific abuse of children in the Northern Territory, but calling for it to be conducted independently from the NT Government and for a broader inquiry into the youth justice system as a whole.

Bob Debus highlights the incarceration crisis in the Second Frank Walker Memorial Lecture - “The Things That Must Be Done…” ** Some Genuine Decision-Making Power: Dealing with the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the prison system

Following the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments on Friday, national advocacy organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights – ANTaR, today expressed frustration at the absence of any focus on lowering rates of violence and incarceration experienced by First Peoples. 

To Change the Record, we need to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communi-ties to invest in holistic early intervention, prevention and diversion strategies. These are smarter, evidence-based and more cost-effective solutions that increase safety, address the root causes of violence against women and children, cut reoffending and imprisonment rates, and build stronger communities. 

Here is our list of what needs to be done. 

26 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, health, community, and legal peak organisations write an open letter to the PM to request an urgent reversal of the proposed funding cuts to legal assistance services under the Attorney General’s portfolio, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS), its peak body National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS), Community Legal Centres (CLCs) and the Legal Aid Commissions (LAC). 

It’s now time government acted on its commitment to set a destination and chart the course to get us there in relation to incarceration and to do so with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

Government should put this issue on the COAG agenda as a matter of urgency and work towards the development of justice targets. It must meet its commitment on setting targets to reduce incarceration. 

By Andrew Meehan, ANTaR National Director

In this submission ANTaR discusses the unacceptable over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our prison system and the drivers of this imprisonment rate. We raise serious questions about the economic and social cost of imprisonment in the face of what appears to be an ineffective measure to reduce crime and make safer communities. We put forward Justice Reinvestment as a positive policy solution, defining this approach and the purported economic and social benefits of reinvesting justice funds using examples in the US and the UK to support these claims. We support the recommendations put forward by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services to progress the implementation of a justice reinvestment approach in Australia.

ANTaR supports the call for a parliamentary inquiry to explore the potential for Justice
Reinvestment to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people in prisons and create safer communities.

Delivering the 25th Lionel Murphy lecture last night, the Attorney-General Robert McClelland acknowledged that over-imprisonment causes more crime than it prevents and affirmed the need for all governments to work together to address the social causes of crime.

Read ANTaR's National Call to Action, issued on the 20th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handing their Final Report to the Governor-General.

In this submission, ANTaR makes a series of recommendations designed to achieve a reduction in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in custody and build the strength and capacity of local communities, including a national justice reinvestment approach.