linksunten Archiv

The Western Australian corrective services minister says he is "proud" of the state’s rightwing conservative government’s record on juvenile detention, despite plans to toughen mandatory sentencing laws, which experts say will only lead to more Aboriginal children in jail. Western Australia has the highest Indigenous jailing rate on earth, and a black juvenile rate 53 times greater than the non-Aboriginal population. The state jails the highest proportion of Aboriginal men, women and children in Australia.

Prominent Aboriginal journalist Amy McQuire reports on the activist platform ‘new matilda’ that the state’s adult prison population has exploded since Premier Colin Barnett took office in 2008, going from 1,590 Aboriginal adults in jail to 2,214 in jail as of last week.

“The Barnett government’s failure to address the Aboriginal incarceration crisis was recently highlighted by two reports from global advocacy group Amnesty International, one of which directly targeted Western Australia’s juvenile justice system,” McGuire writes.

But last week Corrective Services minister Joe Francis told the WA Parliament he was “proud” that the numbers of juveniles in detention had reached a low of 143, 80 percent of whom were Aboriginal.

Amnesty International Indigenous campaigner Julian Cleary argues that if the numbers were falling, it was likely due to non-Aboriginal rates. Mr Cleary said this government took office, the percentage of Aboriginal youth in juvenile detention had increased from 72 percent to 78 percent.

According to the latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics, released in March, numbers of Aboriginal juveniles in detention have continued to increase.

Mr Cleary says Amnesty expects the numbers of Aboriginal kids in juvenile detention to rise following the state’s plans to toughen mandatory sentencing.

Western Australia is the only state in the country that has mandatory sentencing for juveniles, a policy that has provoked international condemnation. Controversially, there is a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months detention or imprisonment for youth who have been convicted of a ‘three strike’ home burglary, meaning they have two prior convictions for home burglary.

A bill which is expected to pass the state’s upper house later this year will toughen these laws, lowering the counting rules for ‘repeat offender’ status for youth aged 16 to 17.

Amnesty says “under the changes multiple offences dealt with in court on one day will no longer be counted as a single ‘strike’.

“Under the proposed changes, a magistrate would have no option but to impose a one-year term of detention or conditional release order on a 16-year-old for their first court appearance if they have been charged with three counts of home burglary.”

There will be tougher requirements for 16 and 17-year-olds convicted of an ‘aggravated’ home burglary – that will carry a minimum three-year mandatory sentence.

Mr Cleary said the laws will tie the hands of the Magistrate even further, and result in more Aboriginal youth in detention. He says the small steps the WA government has taken to try and reduce rates will be undermined by its mandatory sentencing laws.

“To be fair to them, the WA government has just announced a program that’s being delivered by the Wirrapunda Foundation, working with some of the kids that have high rates of re-offending. That’s a positive step, it’s a small step in the right direction.

“For the first time ever they’ve given money to the Aboriginal Legal Service in WA for a youth diversion program and there’s the Yiriman project in the Kimberley that has received money.

“They are all positive small steps, but at the same time the government is expanding mandatory sentencing... Aboriginal organisations are still not receiving the majority of funding.”

Ms McGuire also reports on public comments on social media like ‘use him as target practice’ after the escape from prison of an Aboriginal teenager in the Northern Territory earlier this week.

The Northern Territory police had uploaded to Facebook a picture, name and details of the youngster, which was then shared by Nine News Darwin TV. Both posts provoked a number of comments calling on the child to be shot, used for target practice or fried on electric fences.

George Amberson wrote that “someone needs to put a bullet in this waste of space. Clearly has no intention of being a productive member of society.”

Ned Mcgrellis commented: “Can we open fire if found on our property or is that just an American thing”. The comment attracted one like.

Another user, Sharon Izzard, wrote “can the jets flying around put on infrared and use them for target??? No great loss to society and a saving for the tax payer”.

Kylie Hall wrote “electrify the fences with high volt when they try to escape they get fried. Show these young fools its not a joke taking up police time by their stupid stunts.”

One user also found the Facebook profile of the offender, and posted it in the comments.

Along with Queensland, the Northern Territory is one of the only two jurisdictions in Australia allow the ‘naming and shaming’ of juvenile offenders. Under the Youth Justice act 2005, a young offender’s name and picture can be published publicly unless a magistrate suppresses its publication.

It means the NT Police can continually publish the names and faces of young, vulnerable offenders, the majority of whom have a tragic history that has lead them into the criminal justice system.

A lawyer at a human rights law centre, Ruth Barson, told New Matilda the comments were “absolutely shocking” and their “overtly violent and racist” nature was “deeply” offensive. She said the NT government had to look at changing the laws because which stigmatises juvenile offenders.

“More broadly it speaks to the importance of the NT changing its laws around naming and shaming young people caught up in the criminal justice system.

“They are laws that are archaic and go against the principle that the youth justice system should be used to rehabilitate young people at risk. It’s doing more damage than any greater good.

“It attracts stigma and public shame and ostracises a young person. All of those things are the opposite of what the youth justice system is about, and what they should be trying to achieve.”