A NSW parliamentary committee examining the “unacceptably high” level of First Nations people in custody made 39 urgent recommendations when handing down its report in April,on the 30th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
,Indigenous people made up 27 per cent of the average daily prisoner cohort in NSW despite making up just 3 per cent of the state’s overall population.
Meanwhile,analysis from Deloitte released in 2018 found only 64 per cent of the 1991 royal commission recommendations had been implemented in full.
“We can,and we must,do better. We will continue to work hand-in-hand with Aboriginal communities to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the prison population and increase their safety when they are in custody,” said Attorney-General Mark Speakman.
Corrective Services NSW has recently launched a review looking at all the state’s Aboriginal deaths in custody since 2010,and the state government released its Closing the Gap implementation plan a few months ago.
“The over-representation of Aboriginal people in the justice system remains a true source of shame for this country. Every death that occurs when a person is in custody is a tragedy for loved ones left behind,” said Aboriginal Affairs Minister Don Harwin.
It announced support or in-principle support for a further 16,and noted another eight.
The five rejected recommendations included calls for the state government to:
In its response,the government said it was aiming to reduce the incarceration rate of Indigenous people by 15 per cent as per the National Agreement on Closing the Gap,and that existing arrest laws strike a balance between personal liberty and community safety.
The rejection of additional investigative powers for the LECC defies one of the key recommendations made by the inquiry to improve the oversight of deaths in custody.
“The best way forward the committee agreed on was to expand the functions of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission to undertake full investigations in relation to deaths in custody,with appropriate resourcing and support,” wrote committee chair,Labor MLC Adam Searle,when the report was released in April.
The government refused to relax legislation affecting offensive language,but it did say it would consider how the laws were policed regarding Aboriginal people. It also said it would investigate whether someone’s Aboriginality should be a factor when considering bail.
The response to a recommendation to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 was non-committal with the government saying it was continuing to consider the move.
However,the government conceded that more needed to be done to help Indigenous women exiting prison and promised additional funding for support programs.
"A further $323,905 will be provided over two years to support expansion of the Miranda Project to a further location in Sydney and an additional $60,000 to evaluate the new model,which builds on the success of the program to date,"the response said.
It also supported calls to increase funding for the coroner to better investigate deaths in custody,and to review prison health services.
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