We wanted to quantify what social factors increase a person’s chance of ending up in prison, and to use that to improve policy and reduce the harms and costs of incarceration.
The Law Council of Australia has called for the end of mandatory sentencing, so is it time to put a stop to this ineffective and disproportionate system?
Dean Lewis/AAP
As the Law Council of Australia calls for the end of mandatory sentencing, it might be time for the Australian government to evaluate and resolve the troubles of this problematic system.
Early intervention and diversion away from the criminal justice system can enable Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities to live with dignity.
AAP/Richard Ashen
The predictable path into prison for Aboriginal people with disabilities is preventable. Here are some solutions.
Early support could save lives and allow Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disability to live with dignity in their communities.
Yasmeen/Flickr
Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disability are managed mostly by police, courts, prison and hospitals. It’s costing us millions, when kinder and cheaper alternatives exist.
Police often don’t recognise that someone has an intellectual disability or brain injury due to a lack of training in this area, researchers have heard.
Brian Yap (葉)/flickr
Police have become the default frontline response to Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities, setting this group up for a lifetime of ‘management’ by the criminal justice system.
The needs of Aboriginal women with disabilities are not being met by any human service system, research shows.
sidkid/flickr
Research suggests serious problems with the way Aboriginal women, particularly those with mental and cognitive disabilities, are “managed” by the criminal justice system.
Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disability are ‘managed’ by police, courts and prisons due to a lack of appropriate community-based services.
Kate Ausburn/flickr
Australia’s high rates of imprisonment and re-imprisonment of Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities is not only shameful, it is entirely predictable and preventable.
Citizens’ juries are one mechanism to draw on informed public opinion to guide policy.
Fotolia
It is claimed ‘tough on crime’ policies reflect public opinion, but a properly informed public, via models such as citizens’ juries, is likely to arrive at different views on prison and its alternatives.
The Northern Territory’s ‘paperless arrest’ powers are at odds with recommendations by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Shutterstock/Igor Golovniov
Northern Territory police powers to make ‘paperless arrests’ are completely contrary to recommendations by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and now the inevitable has happened.
Indigenous prisoners perform a welcome ceremony at the 2014 opening of Darwin’s $500 million prison, which is likely to be full by 2018.
AAP/Neda Vanovac
The Northern Territory stands out for having one of the highest imprisonment rates in the world - much higher even than in the US - and it’s hard to argue that this does the community much good.
Premier Colin Barnett addresses a rally outside Parliament House, the latest in a long history of protests at Indigenous deaths in custody and high rates of incarceration.
AAP/Newzulu/Jesse Roberts
Indigenous people are jailed at a rate 18 times that of non-Aboriginal Western Australian adults, but the overall rate is high too. The great costs of this punitive approach yield few clear benefits.
Most Australian states are having to build more prisons to keep up with soaring rates of imprisonment.
AAP/Dave Hunt
In a new series on imprisonment trends, issues and policies across Australia, The Conversation asks why are imprisonment rates soaring, to what purpose, and with what financial and human consequences?
In recent times, Victoria has reverted to the punitive approach that once filled the Old Melbourne Gaol, with little thought for the long-term consequences.
Flickr/Eva
Victoria was once characterised by low imprisonment rates and innovative corrections policy. The state now has Australia’s highest rate of growth in imprisonment.