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Koori Court - explaining how it works/run and how successful it is

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Sentencing in the Koori Court Division of the Magistrates' Court: A Statistical Profile

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In Sentencing in the Koori Court Division of the Magistrates' Court, the Sentencing Advisory Council analyses previously unpublished data on the Koori Court.

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Book at Deakin Library - Aboriginal criminal justice : background and foreground

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Updated June 25, 2009 21:15:00

A new report linking drugs and alcohol to high Indigenous prison rates fails to address the full picture and perpetuates negative stereotypes, an Aboriginal professor says.

The report released today by the Australian National Council of Drugs states that Indigenous Australians are 13 times more likely to end up in jail than the rest of the population.

The report found a clear link between drug and alcohol abuse and the over-representation of Indigenous people in jail, showing that a fair proportion of Indigenous prisoners were intoxicated at the time of their offence.

It makes a number of recommendations, including the creation of educational support funds for every young Indigenous person, as well as diversion programs specifically designed for Indigenous offenders.

But the University of Southern Queensland's Associate Professor John Williams-Mozley says the report does not look at the primary reasons as to why so many Indigenous people end up in jail.

Professor Williams-Mozley is USQ's director of Indigenous education and a criminologist.

He has also been a state (New South Wales) and federal policeman for about 22 years and a special investigator for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

He says the council's report did not emphasise that the likelihood of arrest is about 20 times greater for Indigenous Australians than it is for non-Indigenous Australians.

"The institution of policing has for historical reasons adopted a number of practices, which are injurious to Indigenous peoples in this country, hence their over-representation in arrest and custody rates, leading to their over-representation in jail populations," he said.

"My view is that a lot more work has to be done seriously at the front end of the criminal justice system - the front end being police practices, when police make the decision and do actually arrest people."

He says the figures - which show almost a quarter of male prisoners, a third of female prisoners, and half of all juveniles detained are Indigenous - are correct primarily due to over-policing.

"It's about the high numbers of police that are stationed in a particular location that are able, because of their numbers, to adopt a higher level of surveillance than they probably would in urban areas," he said.

"It's about the use of discretion. It's about individual racist behaviour or racist beliefs and police having a focus on particular legislation when engaging with Indigenous people.

"It's where Aboriginal people are particularly targeted for public order offending by police."

Professor Williams-Mozley says he agrees that fair proportions of Indigenous prisoners are intoxicated at the time of their offence.

But he says it is important to note that more than a third of Indigenous people are in fact arrested for being drunk.

"And the reason why more Aboriginal people are arrested for alcohol offences is because they drink in public, not in night clubs and bars like non-Indigenous people," he said.

"They're in public view and police are surveilling them."

Professor Williams-Mozley does not believe diversion programs specifically designed for Indigenous offenders will do anything to reduce the number of Indigenous prisoners

"Programs introduced after the fact, to assist people in incarceration, aren't really going to do all that much to reduce the initial reasons and causes," he said.

He also believes that recommending the creation of educational support funds for every young Indigenous person is labelling every young Indigenous person as likely to engage in criminal behaviour.

"To me that recommendation says that we will have this education support program and will apply it to every young Indigenous person because they are either now criminal, or because they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander will find themselves within the criminal justice system at some point," he said.

"That is a little bit too general and I think that the council needs to rethink the intent and the target population for that program."

Professor Williams-Mozley says the issue comes down to many, many years of different types of policy practices and exclusions from society and political activities.

He says tackling the over-population of Indigenous peoples in prison is certainly a national responsibility.

Topics: prisons-and-punishment, community-and-society, drugs-and-substance-abuse, aboriginal, torres-strait-islander, education, indigenous-policy, alcohol, drug-use, law-crime-and-justice, police, australia, university-of-southern-queensland-4350

First posted June 25, 2009 19:04:00

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'Over-policing to blame' for Indigenous prison rates

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Updated June 25, 2009 21:15:00 A new report linking drugs and alcohol to high Indigenous prison rates fails to address the full picture and perpetuates negative stereotypes, an Aboriginal professor says. The report released today by the Australian National Council of Drugs states that Indigenous Australians are 13 times more likely to end up in jail than the rest of the population.

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•	Relationships between police and indigenous communities

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•	Relationships between police and indigenous communities

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ABC article – QLD police introduced two patrol cars featuring Indigenous art to their northern region fleet.

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Posted August 01, 2017 15:22:33

In a first for the state, the Queensland Police Service has introduced two patrol cars featuring Indigenous art to their northern region fleet.

The cars are an initiative of the Townsville Stronger Communities Action Group (TSCAG) which was formed in 2016 in response to high youth crime rates in the region and the over-representation of Indigenous youths in the justice system.

TSCAG project leader Sam Reuben, who has Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, said the vehicles were a gesture of goodwill by police, with the aim of developing a whole-of-community approach to fighting youth crime.

"If reconciliation is going to start at all, there has to be some good will presented," Mr Rueben said.

"In return we were hoping that community can then jump on board and our response to crime in Townsville is a holistic response with community and police working together."

Indigenous youth over-represented in justice system

The Department of Justice and Attorney-General reports that in the Townsville region, young Indigenous people (aged 10-16) are 16 times more likely to be charged with an offence and 28 times more likely to be arrested and admitted to a watch house than their non-Indigenous peers.

Mr Rueben said the relationship between police and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander locals has been "non-existent" in Townsville, and this must change for crime statistics to improve.

He said greater police presence at community events and gestures of good will such as the new cars are small steps toward the cultural change that is needed.

"It changes the conversation within a household," Mr Reuben said.

"I can only give you an example from my household, if we see police they are the enemy - 'don't get caught by them fellas if we are doing bad things'.

"But we want to change the conversation to where families are saying 'guys and girls it's not right doing that, doing some of those crimes'.

"If the community isn't on side then we are in the same situation ten years from now."

Mr Reuben said police could also benefit from a deeper understanding of Indigenous culture.

"It is good for them to have an understanding of the holistic issues there,"

"And some decisions we find are made from no knowledge of the experience or some of the issues that are affecting our community."

Unity and generations depicted on the police cars

The vehicles have been resourced by the police and the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.

Queensland artist Dylan Sarra, who belongs to the Gooreng Gooreng people, was commissioned to design the car wraps.

The blue background depicts the sea with the coloured dots representing the various cultural and social groups in the region.

The ochre colour is the earth with the concentric circles representing generations emanating from a single starting point in the middle.

Queensland Police inspector Glenn Doyle said it was hoped the cars would be a conversation starter between police and the local community.

"Just an acknowledgement of the important role that the leaders play," Inspector Doyle said.

"Particularly with the younger people that we are trying to focus on and break that cycle of offending here in Townsville."

Inspector Doyle said police were aware that youth crime would not improve unless the whole community was involved.

"So we need those different parts of the community - Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people to come on board and help us design pathways and programs that are going to assist those young people to break that cycle of offending," he said.

Topics: police, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, crime, youth, townsville-4810, qld

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Deadly police cars on the road to reconciliation

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Posted August 01, 2017 15:22:33 In a first for the state, the Queensland Police Service has introduced two patrol cars featuring Indigenous art to their northern region fleet. The cars are an initiative of the Townsville Stronger Communities Action Group (TSCAG) which was formed in 2016 in response to high youth crime rates in the region and the over-representation of Indigenous youths in the justice system.

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ABC article – Indigenous Police Liaison Officers in NT

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Posted April 27, 2016 12:48:20

Police liaison officers (PLOs) might not carry guns or have the same powers as serving police officers, but their role in keeping the greater community safe is equally important.

Hailing from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, PLOs are charged with the responsibility of ensuring members of their community trust members of the Queensland Police Service (QPS), and that QPS officers understand the cultural values of the community.

For the last 10 years Kathy Lowah has served as a PLO in Cairns, acting as the conduit between police and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

[The QPS] is listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, sitting down with them and talking about the community.

Kathy Lowah, police liaison officer

"It's important that police understand cultural protocols and cultural traditions that [Indigenous Australians] still carry and have carried for thousands of years," PLO Lowah said.

"And it's important that those traditions and protocols are recognised because we have reasons as to why we still practice those traditions."

Cairns' popularity as a destination for new police officers from outside the region means PLO Lowah's job in promoting cultural awareness within the service is a continuous process.

"I strive to do it on a daily basis [because] I acknowledge that people may not understand and may not be aware of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people up here in far north Queensland," she said.

"If they're not aware of the people, they're not aware of the culture."

Balancing modern policing with ancient cultures

PLO Lowah explained that Torres Strait Islander culture is still very much based around gender.

"I take efforts to [explain] why a male police officer can't speak to a female Torres Strait Islander and that it's more appropriate that there's a female officer available," she said.

In one of the most high profile cases PLO Lowah has been involved in, she acted as an advisor to officers investigating the death of eight children found dead inside a home in the western suburbs of Cairns.

"In the Torres Strait Islander culture we have what we call a Marigedth [a spokesperson] who stands in place of the grieving family," she said.

"When QPS officers or other state government workers approached the families they actually had to speak to the Marigedth first ... then that particular representative would go and talk to the grieving family."

According to PLO Lowah, balancing modern day policing with cultural protocols and values that are thousands of years old is "not easy".

"It's a contemporised society [that we live in] so the culture you've carried with you, even if it's thousands of years old, you've got to endeavour to make it work or try and understand the changes," she said.

"Those changes can come good or bad, but it's who you are that will either make it work or fail."

Engagement benefits community and police

In the 10 years she has worked with the QPS, PLO Lowah said the relationship between QPS officers and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has grown significantly.

"[The QPS] is listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, sitting down with them and talking about the community on a number of different issues on a number of different levels," she said.

"There's definitely more engagement, which is a positive way to work towards cultural awareness."

It is these interactions that PLO Lowah believes are most beneficial in that they cultivate points of contact within both involved parties.

"Once that point of contact is made there's a wealth of knowledge that people can work with, rather than it become a guessing game," she said.

"Even if nothing ever eventuates they can still talk to each other and they have specific people that they can go to and ask questions."

Topics: indigenous-culture, indigenous-protocols, police, cairns-4870, torres-strait-islands

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Cultural awareness bridges the gap for Indigenous Australians

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Posted April 27, 2016 12:48:20 Police liaison officers (PLOs) might not carry guns or have the same powers as serving police officers, but their role in keeping the greater community safe is equally important.

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AUSTLII - Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

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AustLII - Indigenous Law Resources - Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

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The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation draws your attention to the cultural sensitivity of issues and material in the individual death reports of the Royal Commission. The Council asks that, in accessing and using these reports, you be aware of this and of the sensitivities of the living relatives and friends of those whose deaths are recorded in these documents.

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Australian States/Territories Police - Aboriginal  Recruiting (NSW for example)

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Aboriginal Recruitment - NSW Police Recruitment

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As an employee of the NSW Police Force, you can access a number of support networks within our organisation. The NSW Police Force has an Aboriginal Employees Network in each policing region, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island employees are trained as Peer Support Officers and mentors and a dedicated Aboriginal Employment Unit is established.

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Indigenous Australian welfare policy – big debate - spending on Aboriginal welfare is too generous

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Aborigines in the Police Force

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•	Prevention, policy and justice in indigenous communities

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•	Prevention, policy and justice in indigenous communities

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Aboriginal Justice Agreement

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Aboriginal Justice Agreement - Department of Justice and Regulation, Victoria

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A partnership between the Victorian Government and the Victorian Koori community to improve justice outcomes

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•	Prevention, policy and justice in indigenous communities

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•	Prevention, policy and justice in indigenous communities

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Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Plan - An integrated approach to Aboriginal mental health

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Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Plan - Department of Justice and Regulation, Victoria

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The department has worked closely with the community to develop the Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Plan with the aim of improving health and justice outcomes for Aboriginal people in prison

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•	Prevention, policy and justice in indigenous communities

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•	Prevention, policy and justice in indigenous communities

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Indigenous Justice Clearinghouse – Research brief into  Understanding and Preventing Indigenous offending