Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak today on the report tabled by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs entitled Doing time—time for doing: Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system. This topic makes my heart break. It is 20 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, with its nearly 340 recommendations; but today, among Aboriginal communities, incarceration levels are even higher than they were then. In the words of Mick Gooda, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner:

… we've failed miserably in the last 20 years.

Indigenous juveniles between the ages of 10 and 17 and Indigenous young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 make up a disproportionate part of our prison population. In fact, Indigenous juveniles account for 59 per cent of the juvenile prison population. They are 28 times more likely to be imprisoned than their non-Indigenous counterparts. According to prison census data taken between 2000 and 2010, the number of Indigenous Australians in custody has gone up by 55 per cent for men and 47 per cent for women—this at a time when the Indigenous population of Australia is only 2½ per cent of the entire population. Quite clearly, this is not good enough.

This report makes clear that the level of contact between our Indigenous youth and our criminal justice system is unacceptable; it is too high and it needs dramatic and drastic action. The impact of having such a high number of Indigenous youth in our criminal justice system has implications that are far and wide: implications for the family unit, for the broader community and for levels of school attendance—which in remote communities are less than 50 per cent—and, personally, for their subsequent employment chances and for the likelihood of their escaping the negative influences of substance and narcotic abuse.

We need programs that tackle the root causes of offences by Indigenous juveniles. We need to get the kids more engaged. We need to work with families. We need to create employment opportunities. We need to end the substance and narcotic abuse. We need an integrated, intergovernmental approach.

In this report, there are over 40 recommendations—recommendations that talk about engaging and empowering Indigenous communities in the development and implementation of programs; how to better integrate and coordinate initiatives by government agencies, non-government agencies and community groups; the need to focus on early intervention; and the need to engage Indigenous leaders, particularly elders. Those 40 recommendations contain some very important suggestions, including better funding for local mentoring programs and improving recreational and sport related activities, because such programs will offer Indigenous youth a better life and a better lifestyle; more gender appropriate accommodation for Indigenous youth, particularly housing plans that ensure they are better equipped when they leave detention; better funding for programs to deal with substance and narcotic abuse; and greater focus on mental health programs. Interestingly, the report recommends hearing tests for all children starting in preschool and training of police so they are more aware that the young people they encounter may have hearing loss. It also recommends incentives for school attendance, including breakfast and lunch programs. If we can get them to school, we offer them an alternative lifestyle to one spent in the prison system. Another recommendation is for teacher development programs to enable our teachers to recognise poor health in their students and to have a greater cultural awareness. This will help them engage with students who may have poor English language skills.

We need more incentives for employers to take on Indigenous apprenticeships. Interestingly and importantly, we need to raise the profile of the Australian Defence Force and provide recruitment opportunities among Indigenous youth. Norforce is a good example for many Indigenous youth, with their communities playing a vital role in the protection of our nation. Increasing employment opportunities for Indigenous men and women in the police force is another recommendation. Then there is the recommendation to establish and fund a national Indigenous interpreter service.

The Australian Institute of Criminology needs to do a more detailed analysis of sentencing options and outcomes for Indigenous Youth. They need to look into the use of diversionary options to determine whether there are alternative sentencing options other than incarceration for Indigenous youth. Critically, we have to examine the rehabilitation process. This report suggests assigning community service case workers, providing better counselling for substance and alcohol abuse and engaging the families of those who find their way into our criminal justice system.

Noel Pearson has written about a speech that a young 15-year-old Aboriginal woman named Tania Major gave in front of John Howard in 2003. She was from the Cape York Peninsula. In this speech, she told her audience, including the then Prime Minister, that she was the only student in her primary school class who went on to be successful. She was the only girl not to have a child at the age of 15 or before. She was one of only three children in her class not to become an alcoholic. Seven of her classmates had been in prison. Four had tragically committed suicide. She went on to get an education, including a university degree, and forged a new path for herself. If we get more Indigenous youth to school, if we lift the year 12 retention rates from around the 35 per cent or 36 per cent that they are today, if we get systematic help for those Indigenous youth in our prison system then we can have more achieve as she has done. In this report, there is mention of a study conducted in New South Wales that found that 90 per cent of Indigenous juveniles in the prison system tested positive to drugs, a remarkable statistic. If we show them the way through education and if we intervene to stop this economic disadvantage then we have a chance.

In conclusion, we must do better. We need to be innovative. We need to focus, as Noel Pearson and others have talked about, on the issue of personal responsibility. But we cannot leave people behind if they cannot help themselves. If Australians want to know what the true moral challenge for our time is it is Indigenous disadvantage and particularly, as we have learned from this report, the disproportionate and tragic numbers of Indigenous youth who are incarcerated in our jails today.

See this speech in context