The Human Rights Watch’s report on Australia states that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up only 2 percent of the national population yet shocking they make up 28 percent of the adult prison population. According to the same report people with disabilities make up 18 percent of the population but almost 50 percent of the inmate population. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face many disadvantages which put them far more at risk to end up incarcerated as opposed to their non-indigenous peers. This risk factor increases severely for those who are both Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people and have disabilities. In the past, there have been several research studies done on the obstacles Aboriginal and Torres …show more content…
Strait Islander people with disabilities face on a day to day basis, but little has been studied about the ramifications of becoming involved with the judicial system. The Human Rights watch conducted research from September 2016 through January 2018 that included interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities, prison-related staff, mental health experts and civil society representatives. Their findings indicate that the Australian prison systems are not only restricting but violating the rights of its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners with disabilities. These problems begin with the lack of disability identification.
Failing to asses and recognize those with disabilities makes it impossible for prisons to make appropriate accommodations and provide proper treatment. Another failure of the identification system is that it is almost fully reliant in self reporting. The problem with this method is that many both Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people are not aware that they have a disability in the first place. There is no equivalent word in either one of their respective languages. Many times, even if the possibility is suspected they do not wish to come forward to heath care related professionals about these issues as they face both discrimination and stigmatization based on their …show more content…
aboriginality. From a judicial standpoint, Australian prisons are used to manage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities. Although several advocacy organizations such as the First People’s Disability Network (FPDN) have detested the use of Australia’s prisons in this manner there is an absence of both education and support for alternative solutions. Because of this, if Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities find themselves in conflict with the law, they are more than likely to get arrested, investigated and sentenced regardless of how small the crime committed may have been. The judicial officers in charge of making arrests lack sufficient knowledge of how to identify various disabilities and whether someone arrested should be taken to a prison verses a mental hospital. As a result, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities are arrested under incorrect pretenses and are therefore not given the support and resources they need. Once in prison, research has shown that an inmates’ disabilities do not cease to exist, nor do they get any better. Instead, through methods such as solitary confinement, lack of understanding disabilities and underlying racism their disabilities worsen, and the inmates are forced to endure segregation and humiliation. There are laws put in place that are supposed to help protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities and give them a fair representation through judicial proceedings.
According to Human Rights Watch, all jurisdictions in Australia have “justice diversion provisions” which encompasses a test of both cognitive and psychosocial disabilities to see if the person charged is fit to stand trial. This test can be administered at any point during the trial and if the person charged does not pass the test they will be deemed unfit to sand trial. If this situation arises authorities by right of the law are given the option to hold them indefinitely in prisons or wards without them ever even being convicted. In 2015 a report by the Coalition of Nongovernmental Organizations identifies that there were at least 100 people being held without conviction in either prisons or a psychiatric ward and over half were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Living in these conditions for an extended period of time can cause detrimental effects to those living with psychosocial
disabilities. When researching the ways prison staff members and other prisoners expressed racism both in language and behavior toward Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Human Rights Watch found that 11 out of 14 prisons showed clear signs of this. In the prison system racism can take many forms, verbal insults, harassment, prejudiced behavior, racial slurs, and at times even violence.
During the late sixteen century, when the first fleet arrived to Australia and discovered the free settlers or known as Australian Indigenous inheritors (The Aborigines), the community of aboriginal inhabitants since then have experienced vast levels of discrimination and racism against their gender, race, colour and ethnicity. The term over representations refers to the presents of minority or disproportionate ethnic aboriginal groups represented in the criminal justice system (CJS). This essay will further explain the relationship between aboriginal communities and policing discussed in Blagg (2008) and Cunneen (2007, the three major sources of concern in association to aboriginal over representation in CJS which include; systematic bias,
The purpose of this paper is to examine why the justice system fails for First Nations persons and alternative rehabilitation methods used by Aboriginal people, comprised of Aboriginal people, for Aboriginal people, in hopes to rehabilitate offenders and prevent criminal behavior in the Aboriginal community from precontact to today. Through the attempts of Aboriginal people to take control of their own destiny’s in the ever going struggle to attain self-government I will examine the aims and structure of one of these alternative rehabilitation methods, the Sentencing Circle used today to address the need to return to community based “Restorative Justice Programs” in the Aboriginal community
Allerton, M, Butler, T, Champion, U & Kenny, D 2003, 2003 NSW Young People in Custody Health Survey: A Summary of Some Key Findings. Australian Institute of Criminology, [Online]. Available at: http://aic.gov.au/events/aic%20upcoming%20events/2003/~/media/conferences/2003-juvenile/kenny.ashx, [Accessed 14 April 2011].
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have faced disadvantages in various areas, particularly housing. The disadvantages these people face now are the result of policies introduced by the European settlers, then the government. The policies introduced were protection, assimilation, integration and self-determination. It is hard to understand the housing disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people if their history is not known.
The gross over representation of indigenous people in the Australian criminal justice system (CJS) is so disturbingly evident that it is never the source of debate. Rather it is the starting point of discussions centring on the source and solutions to this prominent social, cultural and political issue. Discourse surrounds not only the economic and social disadvantage of indigenous communities, but also the systemic racism and continuing intergenerational trauma resulting for the unjust colonisation of a nation which has profited whites at the detriment to indigenous people throughout history. In respect to the currently CJS, trepidations are raised by indigenous communities around the lack of culturally diverse laws and punishments within the system. The overtly western system does not provide a viable space for indigenous
Several states across the Country have enacted or attempted to enact legislation which can enable detention of a prisoner past his/her release date. This type of legislation’s general purpose is to provide a mechanism whereby prisoners who, if released pose an unacceptable risk of committing further serious offences, may be detained where it is deemed appropriate to do so for the protection of the community (Field, 2003). The most recent of these being the Queensland Government’s passing of the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003. Similar laws were introduced in New South Wales in 1994, however they were ultimately ruled invalid by the High Court. Prior to this in 1991 Victoria enacted legislation known as the Community Protection Act 1990, which allowed for the continued detention of one prisoner known as Garry David. Whilst this Act applied to no one else the Victorian Government attempted to broaden the legislation with Draft Bill proposals which ultimately lapse in the face of wide ranging criticism from lawyer, psychiatrists and academics. (Greig 1995)
Critical to understanding the extent of the problem is a clear definition of mentally ill, “a person suffering from mental illness and, owing to that illness, there are reasonable grounds for believing that care, treatment or control of the person is necessary for the person’s own protection from serious harm, or for the protection of others from serious harm” [Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW)]. Noting that the statute specifies the ‘control’ of this group which adds to the notion that people with mental health problems are inherently more dangerous members of our society. Furthermore mental health problems within the prison system (inmate population) are estimated to be three to four times higher than in the general Australian popula...
Cunningham, J. & Paradies, Y.C. 2013, 'Patterns and correlates of self-reported racial discrimination among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, 2008-09: analysis of national survey data', International Journal for Equity in Health, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 47-61.
The Queensland Drug Court system has had little effect on the offending behavior of those who had their program terminated. The Queensland Drug Court system has one main legislation which is the Drug Rehabilitation Act (Court Diversion) Act 2000. (THE QUEENSLAND DRUG COURT). The legislation states that in order to be eligible for the drug court you must be charged with a “relevant offence”, Be an “eligible person”, Plead guilty, be likely to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment, not be suffering any mental condition and Reside in a specified postcode location. As a result, if these requirements are not meet they will be forced to be incarcerated or pay hefty
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
Recently deceased former South African president, philanthropist, politician and human rights activist, Nelson Mandela states that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” A significant lack of education, awareness and understanding has resulted in continued naïve and ignorant attitudes, stereotypes, generalizations, and classifications towards Aboriginal people through forms of media, popular culture, family beliefs and educational teachings in schools.
2008 Another One Bites the Dust: Recent Initiatives in Correctional Reform in New Zealand. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology 41(3):384-401.
... what to do with people who are mentally ill. People who are found to be mentally ill are treated differently than others who commit crimes due to the fact that they may not know what they are doing at the moment. The Canadian criminal system has made it this way so that they get the proper treatment they deserve rather than being charged and put back into the community. Public safety remains always a key factor when deciding what to do with people who are found not criminally responsible. From assessments to specialized hospitals it has played a positive role in our community by allowing these resources to benefit not only the mentally ill but everyone who is being affected on a day to day basis. Not everything is perfect but if more research is put into people with mental illness in regards to medication it possibly could prevent future incidents from happening.
Currently there are 5,867 people in detention centres and a further 3,391 people in community detention. These men, women and children all fled their country to get away from terror and seeked asylum to a better place where they are able to start life over. Sadly a large majority of these people won’t be allowed into Australia in terms of being “free.” They are kept in places called detention centres, a very brutal place to be in, detention centres are commonly known to cause physical as well as mental health problems that may last forever. It’s sad to know that these people are being put through harsh conditions.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been the first nations, which represented the whole Australian population, for centuries. However, the continuous European colonization has severely affected these peoples and, over the decades, their unique values and cultures, which enriched the life of Australian nation and communities, were not respected and discriminated by numerous restrictive policies. As a result, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have turned into the voiceless minority of the Australian population. Fortunately, in recent years, these issues became the concern of the Australian government, promoting a slight improvement in the well being of native Australians. Nowadays, there are numerous social work