Indigenous over-representation in juvenile justice

This week the NSW Juvenile Justice Review delivered the following findings, which included identifying the substantial over-representation of Indigenous youth:

1. The last decade has seen a growth in 'getting tough on crime' rhetoric from politicians in NSW. The evidence for this is best demonstrated in the changes to the Bail Act 1978 over that time, with 18 amendments being made since 2000.

2. The changes to the Bail Act have had a range of unintended consequences that have negatively impacted on the juvenile justice system. [ie dramatic increase in juvenile remand rates]

3. Individual departments and agencies 'processing' juvenile justice are not always coordinated.

4. Children and young people who enter the juvenile justice system are likely to have family dysfunction, intellectual disability, poor mental health, dislocation from education, and homelessness. There is substantial evidence that intervening early in the lives of children at risk will divert them from entering the juvenile justice system.

5. Children and young people make up 26% of all persons of interest (i.e. of all ages) proceeded against by NSW Police. The NSW Police effectively divert many of them from offending behaviour through the use of the Young Offenders Act. However, the use of diversionary options is not uniformly applied across all Local Area Commands.

6. The Children's Court provides a full range of support and sentencing options to offenders, but the range does not extend to regional and remote locations. [ie areas more likely to affect Indigenous youth]

7. There has been an increasing use of control orders (incarceration) by courts, and this coupled with a significant increase in the use of remand, has seen a significant increase in the numbers in detention. The evidence, both Australian and international, is that detention is counter productive by providing neither a deterrent or reducing re-offending. 'Quite simply greater use of detention is not making NSW a safer place'.

8. 'It is readily apparent that Indigenous children and young people are significantly overrepresented in all categories'. 'Indigenous overrepresentation is rooted in deep social disadvantage'. 'In seeking to improve this situation the Review recommends a fundamental rethink of the approach to addressing Indigenous disadvantage. Without new approaches to improving Indigenous social cohesion, overrepresentation will remain a feature of juvenile justice both in NSW and Australia more generally.'

The review did NOT recommend law and order or mere rehabilitation. Rather, it recommended 'justice reinvestment'. This involves:
+ Diverting funding from building juvenile justice centres to evidence-based prevention and early intervention programs and services for local communities.
+ Could be implemented through spiral development or immediate widespread implementation.
+ Approximate costs of $348.14 million to reinvest into addressing the underlying causes of crime. [This would otherwise be spent over the next 6 years to meet forecast juvenile justice centre capacity.]
+ Significant long term benefits for the community.