Aboriginal Youth and the Juvenile Justice System in Western Australia
by Crime Research Centre, The University of Western Australia for the Aboriginal Affairs Department
This Report was commissioned by the Aboriginal Affairs Department (AAD) on behalf of the Aboriginal Justice Council (AJC). In thei 1994 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) monitoring report 'Getting Strong on Justice', the Council identified juvenile justice as a major concern and high priority for action.
The AJC requested information about the nature of Aboriginal youths' contact with the criminal justice system and identified areas requiring specific research so that effective strategies to address this problem could be developed.
The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs recognised the AJC's priority and at the Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (MCATSIA) committed to research into juvenile justice matters. This report was commissioned in June 1995 and completed by the Crime Research Centre in January 1996.
Summary of Main Findings
The overall picture in relation to Aboriginal juvenile justice issues remains, for the most part, bleak in many areas of the State. While we may draw some comfort from the success of individual initiatives, the general picture does not encourage optimism in the short or medium term. The reforms that have been made to the system have yet to make sustained inroads into rates of arrest and incarceration for Aboriginal children and young people.
It may seem uncharitable to draw pessimistic conclusions when the overall picture shows a notable reduction in the court population and a significant expansion in the use of alternatives to prosecution. We do not dismiss the progress made in this area as insignificant or inconsequential, rather our aim is to demonstrate that reforms thus far have only had a marginal impact on Aboriginal involvement in the system.
Contact with the Police
The general picture shows a significant reduction in the number of arrests and charges. The rate of decrease for Aboriginal children and young people, however, is significantly lower than for non-Aboriginal children and young people.
Aboriginal juveniles are arrested by police more often than non-Aboriginal juveniles.
There is evidence that some changes in arrest patterns have occurred along racial lines. In particular, the proportion of Aboriginal juveniles charged with good order offences has increased since 1990, yet has decreased for non-Aboriginal juveniles over the same time (see Table 6.1 in the Report). This result gives some support to the proposition that the police are using good order offences to clear Aboriginal youth from the streets.
Generally, Aboriginal juveniles were over-represented in charges involving break/theft offences, good order and against person offences, while non-Aboriginal juveniles were over-represented in charges involving motor vehicle offences and drugs.
Rates of contact with the system are very high and not just related to criminal justice issues. In the Kimberley just over 50% of juveniles detained in police lock-ups were there because of alcohol.
Arrest rates for young Aborigines were highest in the South Eastern, Central and Perth regions. In the South Eastern region (which includes the Kalgoorlie area), more than 28 out of every 100 young Aborigines were arrested at least once in 1994 and faced an average of more than 5 charges each (see Tables 6.6 and 6.8 in Report).
The data on cautioning shows that Aboriginal youth are less likely to be cautioned by the police than non-Aboriginal youth. Of the 12,887 juveniles cautioned by police between August 1991 and December 1994, only 12.3% were Aborigines.
These Aboriginal children were more likely than non-Aboriginal children to be cautioned for offences against the person and good order offences and were more likely to be cautioned more than once.
The data also showed that about half of cautions issued to Aboriginal juveniles took place in the Perth metropolitan area. Cautions issued outside the Perth area varied from region to region and from year to year, most likely the result of changes in police practice in these areas.
Significantly, our analysis showed that more than half of young male Aborigines and one third of young female Aborigines who were cautioned were arrested and charged before being cautioned or soon after it: while only one in ten female non-Aborigines and one quarter of male non-Aborigines were arrested by police.
Detention rates in police lock-ups are still high for Aborigines. They represent just under half of all juvenile admissions, the over-representation rate is particularly high for Aboriginal girls, twice as many are detained as non-Aboriginal girls.
Of particular concern is the young age at which these people have contact with the police. One in five Aborigines detained in 1994 was 14 years or under. Of these, 91.6% already had an arrest history.
Early involvement in the system is a key factor in the development of a criminal career for Aboriginal youth. There are indications that Aboriginal children are acquiring an "offender profile" early, which excludes them from diversionary options and makes them the subject of more intrusive intervention.
There is strong evidence of wide disparities in police practice across and within regions, leading to "justice by geography".
More than half of lock-up detentions were in the Metropolitan area.
Family Group Meetings
Rates of referral of Aboriginal youth for Family Group Meetings are low considering their degree of involvement in the system.
Mistrust of the police was identified as a factor in the reluctance of young Aboriginal people to attend family meetings.
Currently, the teams are being deluged with trivial cases, and in particular, victimless cases which should be cautioned.&127
The Courts
The numbers of charges dealt with by the Children's Court have fallen substantially as police have increasingly cautioned youths, although other contributory factors such as the extension of the INREP scheme and changes to Panel eligibility, should not be discounted.
Offences (charges) dealt with by the Children's Court and Panel between 1990 and 1994 have fallen by more than 40% (Table 10.1 in Report). The number of individuals dealt with each year has also declined. Between 1990 and 1993, the number of individuals appearing before the Court or Panel decreased by 44%.
Once convicted, Aboriginal youth are sentenced to custody more often than non-Aboriginal youth (Table 10.4 in Report).
Non-Aborigines were more likely than Aborigines to be dismissed, while Aborigines were more likely than non-Aborigines to receive a custodial sentence.
While Aboriginal juveniles are facing fewer charges in court, they are appearing slightly more often than they were in 1990.
Detention
Aboriginal children and young people were more likely to receive a custodial sentence than non-Aboriginal children and young people.
In Australia an Aboriginal juvenile is 18.6 times more likely to be imprisoned than a non-Aboriginal juvenile. For Western Australia, this difference is even greater, with the non-Aboriginal rate per 100,000 persons aged 10-17 being just above the national average at 28.1, while the Aboriginal rate is 912.4. This represents a differential risk of Aboriginal juvenile imprisonment 32.4 times greater that that of non-Aborigines.
The total number of juveniles in detention increased during 1994, due mostly to an increase in the number of juveniles serving sentences of imprisonment. Since early 1995 there has been a decline in the number of juveniles in detention, again reflecting changes in the sentenced population.
The number of juveniles on remand have increased slightly during this same period. However, limited information about remandees restricts any commentary.&127
Private Security Police and Aboriginal Youth
Claims that Aboriginal youth are over-policed in public and denied equal access to public space have been raised consistently in the State for some time.
Less attention has been focused on the role played by private policing in the control of Aboriginal youth and the powers they use to achieve their ends. The area will require attention because of the proliferation of private security agents and the potential threat this poses to the civil rights of Aboriginal people from an industry that is largely unregulated, unlicensed and unaccountable to the public.
We address these issues in the report and provide detailed statistical summaries of trends in relation to police contact, arrests, bail and remand, court and detention.
We have attempted to cover issues comprehensively which we believe to have long term significance and have given less space to those more transitory issues caused by changes in law and policy which we feel will be resolved through practice. Many issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the new orders in the Young Offenders Act, for example, are being resolved daily. In contrast, the broader issue of Aboriginal over-representation remains a constant factor.
CONTENTS
- Introduction
- Summary of Main Findings
- The Juvenile Justice System in Western Australia
- Approaches to Diversion
- Family Group Conferences
- Policing Aboriginal Youth
- The Work Camp
- Other Areas of Juvenile Justice
- Issues in Juvenile Justice Provision
- Appendix I Aboriginal Patrols
Appendix II The Warden Schemes
Bibliography
The Report is available from:
Aboriginal Affairs Department&127
1st Floor
Capita House
197 St George's Terrace
PERTH WA 6000
Tel: 61-9-235-8000
Fax: 61-9-235-8088 |