Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Last month, my Curtin Youth Advisory Group held its last meeting before handing over to next year's group of students. At our meeting, each youth adviser gave a 90-second speech on an issue they care about. Bella spoke about refugees, Ava spoke about the NDIS and Max spoke about affordable housing. Olivia spoke about transitioning to a green economy, and Sarah and Saskia both spoke about youth mental health and how to combat stress from school.

Tom Mengler from Scotch College was voted as making the speech of the day, and I want to share with you some of his thoughts on Indigenous youth incarceration. Tom said:

Not only does youth incarceration severely affect the health and wellbeing of generations of Indigenous people, it is also a pathway into reoffending, contributing to overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that of children in youth detention across Australia, 56% were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. However, Indigenous kids only represent 6% of the entire 10-17 age bracket in Australia.

According to Amnesty International, 94% of children locked up between the age of 10 and 12 were found to reoffend before turning 18.

Tom wants the government to make Indigenous youth incarceration a national priority and to fund programs that would disrupt the cycle of offending and reoffending. I hope the government will hear these calls.

See this speech in context