Introduction
Referral
1.1
On 4 March 2015, the Senate referred the following matter to the Senate
Finance and Public Administration References Committee for inquiry and report
by 10 August 2015:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience of law
enforcement and justice services, with particular reference to:
- the extent to which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
have access to legal assistance services;
-
the adequacy of resources provided to Aboriginal legal assistance
services by state, territory and Commonwealth governments;
-
the benefits provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
communities by Family Violence Prevention Legal Services;
-
the consequences of mandatory sentencing regimes on Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander incarceration rates;
-
the reasons for the high incarceration rates for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander men, women and juveniles;
-
the adequacy of statistical and other information currently collected
and made available by state, territory and Commonwealth governments regarding
issues in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice;
-
the cost, availability and effectiveness of alternatives to imprisonment
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, including prevention,
early intervention, diversionary and rehabilitation measures;
-
the benefits of, and challenges to, implementing a system of 'justice
targets'; and
-
any other relevant matters.[1]
1.2
The reporting date was subsequently extended to 25 August 2016.[2]
Conduct of the inquiry
1.3
The inquiry was advertised in The Australian newspaper and on the
committee's website. The committee invited submissions from individuals,
organisations and government departments by 30 April 2015.
1.4
The committee received 51 public submissions as well as confidential submissions.
A list of individuals and organisations which made public submissions, together
with other information authorised for publication by the committee, is at
Appendix 1.
1.5
The committee held public hearings in Perth on 4 August 2015, Sydney on
23 September 2015 and Canberra on 4 April 2016. The committee also
held a hearing in Darwin on 16 February 2016 for its inquiry into the
Commonwealth Indigenous Advancement Strategy tendering processes, where it also
received evidence in relation to this inquiry. A list of the witnesses who gave
evidence at the public hearings is available at Appendix 2.
1.6
The inquiry was not completed when the Senate and the House of
Representatives were dissolved on 9 May 2016 for a general election on 2 July
2016. When parliament resumed, the committee met and recommended to the Senate
that the inquiry continue in the 45th Parliament with a reporting
date of 13 October 2016. This recommendation was agreed by the Senate.[3]
1.7
Submissions, additional information and the Hansard transcript of
evidence may be accessed through the committee website at: www.aph.gov.au/senate_fpa.
Context of the inquiry
1.8
This inquiry is preceded by a number of other relevant inquiries,
including:
-
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, Access
to Justice, 8 December 2009;
-
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Doing Time – Time for Doing: Indigenous
youth in the criminal justice system, 20 June 2011;
-
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and
Legal Affairs, FASD: The Hidden Harm – inquiry into the prevention,
diagnosis and management of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, 29 November
2012;
-
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, Value
of a justice reinvestment approach to criminal justice in Australia, 20
June 2013; and
-
Productivity Commission, Access to Justice Arrangements, 3
December 2014.
1.9
The committee does not seek to duplicate the work of any of these
previous inquiries. Where relevant, this committee has referred to the
evidence, conclusions and recommendations of those inquiries.
Structure of the report
1.10
The inquiry's terms of reference are addressed in the following chapters:
-
Chapter 2 – describes the four main government legal assistance
services; the Commonwealth funding for each service, and the adequacy of
funding for those services;
-
Chapter 3 – discusses the unmet legal needs of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people and outlines some of the barriers to access to
legal assistance services;
-
Chapter 4 – covers the imprisonment rate of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders; discusses the adequacies of the statistical and other data
collected and made available about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
justice issues, and considers the inclusion of justice targets in the Closing
the Gap measures;
-
Chapter 5 – sets out the factors driving the overrepresentation
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the prison population;
-
Chapter 6 – discusses some of the current programs in the
criminal justice system which have been specifically developed for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanders, or which address issues which are pertinent to
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people;
-
Chapter 7 – considers the alternatives to
imprisonment, including consideration of the merits of justice reinvestment;
and
-
Chapter 8 – sets out the committee's views and recommendations.
Acknowledgements
1.11
The committee thanks those who made submissions and appeared at
hearings.
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