Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 389 standing in my name for today relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a) notes the release of the report, Indigenous incarceration: Unlock the facts, produced by international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in collaboration with the Change the Record campaign;

(b) acknowledges the important contribution it makes in highlighting the social and economic benefits of closing the gap on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration rates;

(c) acknowledges that:

(i) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men are 11 times more likely to be incarcerated than the rate of the general male population,

(ii) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 15 times more likely to be incarcerated than the rate of the general female population,

(iii) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth are 25 times more likely to be incarcerated than the rate of non-Indigenous youth, and

(iv) on any given day, there are approximately 10 000 Aboriginal adults, and 500 Aboriginal youth in prison;

(d) acknowledges the growing incarceration rates of our First Peoples is shameful;

(e) notes that the report, Indigenous incarceration: Unlock the facts, calls for justice targets as part of the solution to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration;

(f) notes that many other reports, Aboriginal leaders and communities have called for justice targets to be rolled out as part of the approach to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration; and

(g) calls on the Federal, state and territory governments to develop and implement justice targets at the first opportunity as part of closing the gap efforts.