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Inquiry says Aboriginal justice is in crisis
A federal inquiry into Aboriginal justice has described the rate of Indigenous youth in Australian prisons as being a "national crisis".The House of Representatives Standing Committee on…
Lawyers Weekly
A federal inquiry into Aboriginal justice has described the rate of Indigenous youth in Australian prisons as being a "national crisis".
"It does make depressing reading but unfortunately we've known for some time now that the statistics are heading in the wrong direction," said Western Australian chief justice Wayne Martin on ABC Radio yesterday. He added that there was no "silver bullet" to fox the problem, and advocated that policy makers "think laterally".
"Whatever the solutions are, we haven't found them," he said.
The Standing Committee made 40 recommendations. This included accommodation options for Indigenous youth granted bail, a national agreement to meeting specific justice targets, addressing health issues amongst Aboriginal youth, including hearing impairments and Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and the creation of an Indigenous Law and Justice Advisory Capacity body.
The House of Representatives Standing Committee that produced the report consisted of seven members of Parliament and was chaired by Labor MP Shayne Neumann.
