Australian states and territories should urgently introduce justice reinvestment programs to break the cycle of crime and escalating imprisonment rates experienced by Aboriginal people, according to Indigenous rights organisation, ANTaR.

ANTaR National President, Dr Janet Hunt said the recently released Social Justice Report by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma provides a blueprint for how Australia could finally turn the tide of Indigenous incarceration.

“Commissioner Calma’s proposals make good economic as well as social policy sense,” Dr Hunt said.

Dr Hunt said while Australian Indigenous imprisonment rates have increased by a massive 48 percent since 1996, governments have only responded with a ‘business as usual’ approach with none of the urgency that this situation calls for.

“Justice reinvestment as proposed by Commissioner Calma would be a bold, creative and pragmatic response to the policy inertia that has characterised government approaches to Aboriginal incarceration,” Dr Hunt said.

“If justice reinvestment can work in a conservative, ‘tough on crime’ state like Texas, there is no reason why it can’t work in Australia,” she said.

As Commissioner Calma explains in his report:

“Justice reinvestment is a localised criminal justice policy approach that diverts a portion of the funds for imprisonment to local communities where there is a high concentration of offenders,” the report says.

This money is redirected from imprisonment to programs that tackle the underlying causes of crime in the targeted communities.

Dr Hunt urged bi-partisan adoption of justice reinvestment in all states and territories.  She said that a crucial test of justice reinvestment will take place in the lead up to the 2011 NSW election.

NSW has the nation’s largest population of Aboriginal people, who on average are 13 times more likely to be imprisoned than other Australians. 

At the same time as prison rates are increasing in NSW, the state is struggling to pay for basic services like transport and health.  If the current growth of prisoners continues, it is estimated that the costs of running the state’s prisons will increase by $150 million per year from 2015.

“The challenge for the NSW Government and Opposition is to abandon the law and order auctions that have so tarnished political debate in that state and embrace justice reinvestment,” Dr Hunt said.

Dr Hunt also urged action on other areas covered by Commissioner Calma’s report – Indigenous languages and Aboriginal homeland communities.

Media contact: Dr Janet Hunt on 0408 170 448