Today, Thursday, 15 April 2021, marks 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handed down its findings, along with 339 recommendations.
\nIn the three decades since the landmark inquiry, 474 First Nations people have died \u2013 that we know about \u2013 either in custody or in police pursuits.
\nToo often these deaths are the result of assault, neglect or preventable suicide. There are proven ways to reduce the causes of incarceration and reduce deaths in custody, and as a nation, it\u2019s time we got on with it.
\nFirst Australians represent three per cent of the general population.
\nBut in the time since the Royal Commission, First Nations people as a proportion of the imprisoned population \u2013 adults and our young people \u2013 has doubled from 14 per cent to 30 per cent.
\nIn some places, it is nearly 90 per cent.
\nIf we want to reduce deaths in custody, we need to reduce incarceration rates.
\nIf we want to reduce incarceration rates, we need to reduce crime and recidivism.
\nIf we want to reduce crime and recidivism, we need to break the cycle of disadvantage \u2013 the socio-economic drivers of these unacceptable trends.
\nThis is why Labor is announcing a suite of substantive measures today to begin to turn the tide on the incarceration and the deaths:<\/p>\n
$79M TO EXPAND JUSTICE REINVESTMENT<\/strong> Today, Thursday, 15 April 2021, marks 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handed down its findings, along with 339 recommendations. In the three decades since the landmark inquiry, 474 First Nations people have died \u2013 that we know about \u2013 either in custody or in police pursuits. Too often these … Continue reading “Labor To Expand Justice Reinvestment to Reduce First Nations Incarceration”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11043\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIt is no longer good enough just to be tough on crime. We need to be smart and effective on it too. We need to be tough on the causes of crime \u2013 the socio-economic drivers of disadvantage.
\nLabor will boost funding for up to 30 communities to establish justice reinvestment initiatives from 2023 to expand existing services to reduce crime and recidivism \u2013 including rehabilitation services; family or domestic violence support; homelessness support and school retention initiatives.
\nIt involves a community-led and holistic approach to keeping at risk individuals out of the criminal justice system.
\nAnd it necessarily requires co-ordination with local police and courts.
\nStates and territories would contribute half of the program costs and will benefit from reduced prison costs.
\nWe will establish an independent national justice reinvestment unit to assist communities and evaluate program performance.
\nTo be successful, justice re-investment initiatives will need to be tailored to local needs and developed in partnership with First Nations communities and organisations, including with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and with Family Violence and Prevention Legal Services to ensure that the voices and experiences of First Nations women are heard.
\nIn Bourke, the community-led Maranguka Project is an example of justice reinvestment delivering results. Anevaluation by KPMG<\/a>\u00a0showed significant reductions in domestic violence, re-offending and juvenile charges, along with improved school retention.
\nThe project was assessed as saving the NSW economy $3.1 million, five times the operating cost of the project in the same year.
\nJustice reinvestment projects are now being established in Mt Druitt and Moree.
\nA federal justice re-investment body and federal and state support for justice reinvestment were recommendations of the Australian Law reform Commission\u2019s 2018 Pathways to Justice report.
\nOn average, it costs $110,000 per year to keep someone in prison. Over time, justice re-investment means fewer people will be in prison, more than paying for the up-front cost of the programs. It means less crime and savings for taxpayers.
\n$13.5M FOR MORE EFFECTIVE CORONIAL INQUESTS<\/strong>
\nCoronial inquests should lead to real and lasting change, preventing deaths in custody and saving lives.
\nCoronial inquests should be comprehensive and more inclusive, by ensuring that the voices of families and First Nations communities are heard.
\nLabor will provide specific standalone funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services to ensure First Nations families can access culturally appropriate, timely, and fair legal assistance before, during and after all coronial processes.
\nCONSOLIDATED REAL-TIME REPORTING OF DEATHS IN CUSTODY<\/strong>
\nAnd Labor will establish consolidated real-time reporting of First Nations deaths in custody at a national level.
\nIn government, Labor will convene a national summit bringing together First Nations and state and territory representatives to ensure coordinated action on First Nations deaths in custody.
\nLabor would work with the states and territories to set up a national process for real-time reporting of deaths in custody, with all deaths to be publicly reported within 24 hours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"