Before starting, I would first like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Australia, the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. I’d like to pay respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging as well as those who are reading through this.
Incarceration: The state of being confined in prison: imprisonment
It’s kind of ironic how Aboriginal people represent around 3% of Australia’s population, yet more than 29% of the prison population are Indigenous. In October of 1987, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) was implemented. It was established to investigate why so many Indigenous people died during confinement and created recommendations in order to prevent future deaths. However, from 1990 to 1995 Aboriginals continued to be arrested at high rates. Even after the introduction of this commission, these rates have continued to increase in the following years.
What is the ‘Royal Commission’ and RCIADIC?
Generally, a Royal Commission is known to be an investigation as well as an independent of government for an issue with great importance. Such commissions are able to establish public hearings, call witnesses under oath as well as press evidence. They make recommendations towards the government and what they should do in order to strike change in the system.
The RCIADIC was constructed between 1987 to 1991 and developed 339 recommendations that covered a wide range of policies. Some of these included:
‘That governments consult with appropriate Aboriginal organisations in the consideration and implementation of the various recommendations in this report’
‘Programs for changes to policies which affect the operation of the criminal justice system’
‘That governments, recognising the trauma and pain suffered by relatives, kin and friends of those who died in custody, give sympathetic support to requests to provide funds or services to enable the counselling to be offered to these people’
Although this report has been made, it does not necessarily mean that it has been followed regularly. Back in 2016, Patricia Anderson stated:
‘We spend a lot of time talking about Aboriginal issues and the problems and everything, but very little has been done.’
Which is an accurate statement - even the statistics prove it to be true.
48% of juveniles in custody are Aboriginal
Between 2000-2010, it was recorded that imprisonment rates increased for Aboriginal women by 59% and 35.2% for Aboriginal men.
How can we help?
Sign and share petitions:
コメント