John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fraser for raising this issue for discussion, and I also thank my colleagues from Aston, Gippsland and Dawson for their insightful contributions. There are two main areas of this broad and important motion that I wish to address: the disproportionate representation of Indigenous Australians in our prisons; and the unique education and rehabilitation programs implemented by not-for-profit organisations that deserve far more support and recognition than they currently receive.

The text of this motion refers to the rates of incarceration as 172 per 100,000 in the broader community rising to 2,303 per 100,000 for Indigenous Australians. That is an increase of over 1,300 per cent. You do not need a PhD from Harvard, like my learned friend from Fraser, to know that something is broken when such a disparity exists. This is an issue that should be significant to all Australians and will not be resolved in the time allocated to this motion today, but this conversation and action should never stop.

As legislators and academics debate policy responses to address these problems from an institutional perspective there are many non-government, not-for-profit groups working hard to alleviate the damage that incarceration and recidivism does to individuals and communities on the ground. One of these groups is the Australian Children's Music Foundation, founded by legendary Australian singer-songwriter Don Spencer and assisted tirelessly by program manager Vicki Fitzgibbon.

ACMF runs education programs for youth at risk in schools and disadvantaged communities. ACMF partners with 34 schools, of which 21 are 100 per cent Indigenous or have a high proportion of Indigenous students. Twelve of these schools are in remote communities. ACMF also runs an extensive juvenile justice program, currently in 17 out of 20 juvenile justice centres in Australia, with the goal to run permanent programs in all 20. ACMF has developed an enviable reputation for sustaining every program that it has initiated. This contrasts with many government programs referred to sceptically in remote Indigenous communities as 'another white Toyota'—they drive in, they drive out, never to return.

One of the remote centres where ACMF runs a program is the Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre at the Top End in the Northern Territory with detainees of both sexes aged from 10 to 18 years and with approximately 90 to 95 per cent Indigenous. The Principal of the Don Dale Education Centre, Lisa Coon, refers to the detainees as the 'Dis-Generation'. In her words:

They are typically disadvantaged, disinterested, disengaged, disillusioned, and disconnected. One of the most engaging tools the school currently possesses is the music program funded by the Australian Children's Music Foundation.

Music is a great equaliser amongst detainees, with those who may not be able to read and write in the classroom, being given the opportunity of positive expression through music. Music plays an important part in Indigenous culture and is the main venue that allows Indigenous detainees to create and perform stories about their culture in their own language.

Thus, engaging with the music program is seen as a necessary prerequisite for success in the mainstream classroom.

The ACMF juvenile justice programs are run year-round in remote and often forgotten parts of our nation with paid teachers and considerable overheads. ACMF would say that every dollar spent is worthwhile when observing the great results in some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable young people in our country. They can only make this work through the generosity of charitable donations.

Unfortunately, this government has been far more willing to perfect the art of wasting money than supporting genuine social programs. It spent $33 million last year on market research and over $20 million was spent on advertising the carbon tax, yet this government can only afford to provide ACMF with just over $15,000 per year for each juvenile justice centre.

ACMF would never complain; however, I urge this government to change their focus to assist great not-for-profit organisations like the Australian Children's Music Foundation in attacking the scourge of Indigenous incarceration. I applaud the efforts of the Australian Children's Music Foundation and all other non-government organisations, who are doing such great work in dealing with a sad reality which we seem to try so hard to avert our gaze from—that of the exceptionally disproportionate rate of Indigenous incarceration.

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