Westmore, Tony --- "A Work in Progress: Juvenile In/Justice and Indigenous Kids" [2003] IndigLawB 53; (2003) 5(27) Indigenous Law Bulletin 5

• A Work In Progress: Juvenile In/justice And Indigenous Kids
• National Indigenous Juvenile Justice Conference 2003 Adelaide 14 &Amp; 15 October

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A Work in Progress:

Juvenile In/Justice and Indigenous Kids

National Indigenous Juvenile Justice Conference 2003
Adelaide 14 & 15 October

by Tony Westmore

Syd Sparrow[1] said most of it when he said, simply, “its not really about over-representation, its about over-exposure”. And statistics coming out of Perth back him up. Of the 400 or so young people directly impacted by the Northbridge curfew in its first three months of operation, more than 85% were Aboriginal.

Regardless of whether this experience was positive or not, whether it was their first experience or not, whether the same kids were involved repeatedly or not, more than 350 under-age Aboriginal people were told by uniformed police that they were not welcome where they were and that they should move on.

The Australian Institute of Criminology has found that Indigenous juveniles are 17 times more likely to be locked-up in detention facilities than non-Indigenous young people. This ratio remained relatively consistent between 1994 and 2002 despite reductions in the detention rates of both Indigenous and non-indigenous youth.[2]

This conference of about 75 people convened in Adelaide over two days in mid-October. The organisers were motivated by two goals: to conduct a survey of the current state of affairs and to create an opportunity for networking. Most of the participants were Indigenous, there was representation from all states and territories. There were service providers, community workers and educators, researchers and policy makers. Although many of the presentations were informal, a set of papers will be produced.

In some respects the proceedings were disheartening; a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same. However, there were also stories of remarkable success predicated in some cases on a return to heritage and in others on genuinely original approaches. Even amongst people who work in the area, in complex circumstances at the intersection of the criminal justice, welfare and education systems, there was some optimism. The most consistent theme was the need for a better to start to life for those at risk.

There was a clearly shared understanding that the over-representation of Indigenous young people in the juvenile justice system has its roots much earlier in the lives of individuals. And unsurprisingly, there is empirical evidence that maps a path from the juvenile justice system to the adult criminal justice system. The conference heard that it should be possible to make changes that can break the cycle of engagement with crime at several stages. These interventions can be grouped thematically:

• addressing fundamental issues about the place of Australia Indigenous peoples so as to enable self-determination, participation and pride;
• ensuring an engagement with Indigenous cultures, ways and traditions; a sense of self-knowledge and connection to community;
• ensuring that Indigenous children have appropriate and continuing opportunities for education, employment and development;
• ensuring that justice systems work in ways appropriate to Indigenous individuals and communities and that these systems seeks custodial sentences only as the punishment of last resort;
• ensuring that all kinds of punishment are informed by compassion and directed towards rehabilitation, development and healing.

The conference was opened by the South Australian Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, the Honourable Terance Roberts. Program highlights included Dennis Eggington and Debra Rose from the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, Judy Putt from the Australian Institute of Criminology, Chris Cunneen from Sydney University and, Harry Blagg from University of Western Australia.

These keynote/context presenters were well complemented by a diverse range of speakers who work in program and policy areas. Jimmy Perry and Andrew Biven gave a presentation about their work on sniffing prevention and harm minimisation in South Australia. This work led to the involvement of Liz Skelton and Streetwise Streetwize Communications in the production of educational material about alcohol and cannabis. Liz discussed the process of developing this material. Malcolm Gollan and Lisa Kambouris talked about crime prevention through mentoring. Margaret Morrison spoke about a supervised bail program for young women and a strategy to employ Indigenous people in the Western Australian Department of Justice. There were presentations about night patrols, cultural identity, diversionary programs and family violence.

Although the conference was a collection of people interested in the issues and affected by them, and not representative of particular communities, it was agreed in a plenary session to communicate several resolutions to appropriate authorities. In summary, those recommendations are that the conference called for:

• all Australian governments to immediately put into place all recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody;
• the Western Australian government to abolish its mandatory sentencing regime and curfew policies and to re-establish an Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council;
• establishment of a national network to ensure that Indigenous juvenile justice professionals share good practice policies and program ideas;
• the development of appropriate education and employment programs for Indigenous young people as the primary diversion from contact with the justice system;
• the implementation of programs on a needs basis rather than an age basis to enable the provision of appropriate services, eg for example 10 10-year year-olds accessing drug and alcohol services; and
• increased resources for early intervention and prevention programs (ie before children come into contact with the juvenile justice system).

For more information about this conference and the papers coming resulting from it, please contact the Indigenous Law Centre on 02 9385 2256 or [e-mail]

Tony Westmore is coordinator at the Indigenous Law Centre.

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[1] Syd Sparrow is Vice Chairman of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement in South Australia and a Lecturer at the David Unipon School of Aboriginal Studies at the University of South Australia. He gave the opening address entitled Juvenile Justice for Aboriginal Youth: How the Community has Responded and How Far We’ve Come

[2] Michael Bareja and Kate Charlton, Statistics on Juvenile Detention in Australia: 1981-2002, Australian Institute of Criminology Technical and Background Paper Series No 5 (2003) 16; quotes in Jackie Hartley, Trends in Indigenous Juvenile Justice, unpublished paper prepared for Indigenous Law Centre, University of New SOuth South Wales, August 2003.