Transcript Aboriginal women`s access to diversionary programs in NSW

Aboriginal women’s
access to diversionary
programs in NSW
Ruth McCausland
School of Social Sciences
University of New South Wales
Background
• Aboriginal women make up 2% of the female
population, but over 30% of the women’s prison
population in NSW
• Aboriginal women experience higher rates of:
• Mental health disorders
• Cognitive impairment
• Family and sexual violence
• Homelessness
• Return to prison
Women’s Advisory Council, Corrective Services NSW
• Commissioned research on Aboriginal women’s
access to diversionary programs in NSW
• Participation and completion
• Particular barriers and challenges
• Literature review – research and evaluations
• Data from diversionary program staff, BOCSAR
Diversionary programs in NSW
• Police cautions
• Pre-sentence programs
•
•
•
MERIT
CREDIT
Drug Court
• Court intervention programs
•
•
Circle Sentencing
Forum Sentencing
• Sentencing options
Findings of research
• Aboriginal women were less likely than non-Aboriginal
women to be referred to or complete pre-sentencing
and court intervention programs
• MERIT – 50% of Aboriginal women referred were accepted,
and 58% of those completed
• Significant regional variance – ie Circle Sentencing, CREDIT
• Data unavailable for Drug Court
• Under-represented in Forum Sentencing – 15% of women
• Less likely to access and complete programs in custody
Sentencing data on Indigenous women
NSW Criminal Court Statistics 2011: number of persons found guilty in
court of selected offences by Indigenous status, gender and principal penalty
•
•
•
•
Assault - 889
Theft (except mtr vehicles) - 384
Theft from retail premises - 249
Exceed the prescribed content
of alcohol/other substance
limit- 218
• Drive while licence disqualified
or suspended - 212
• Possess/use illicit drugs - 178
• Breach bond (supervised) – 146
• Resist or hinder police officer or
justice official - 131
• Riot and affray - 110
•
•
•
•
•
- 97
Breach of community service
order - 82
Breach bond (unsupervised) - 82
Obtain benefit by deception - 68
Breach of suspended sentence 47
Breach of bail - 6
Assault
Indigenous
women
Total convicted
Imprisoned
889
101
Non-Indigenous 2288
women
Of those convicted of assault in 2011:
48
11.4 % of Indigenous women were imprisoned
2.1 % of non-Indigenous women were imprisoned
BOCSAR NSW Criminal Court Statistics 2011:
No. of persons found guilty in court of selected offences by Indigenous status, gender and principal penalty
Theft from retail premises
Total convicted
Imprisoned
Indigenous
women
249
35
Non-Indigenous
women
780
25
Of those convicted of theft from retail premises in 2011:
14.1 % of Indigenous women were imprisoned
3.2 % of non-Indigenous women were imprisoned
BOCSAR NSW Criminal Court Statistics 2011:
No. of persons found guilty in court of selected offences by Indigenous status, gender and principal penalty
Theft (except motor vehicles)
Total convicted
Imprisoned
Indigenous
women
384
74
Non-Indigenous
women
1069
42
Of those convicted of theft (except motor vehicles) in 2011:
19.2 % of Indigenous women were imprisoned
3.9 % of non-Indigenous women were imprisoned
BOCSAR NSW Criminal Court Statistics 2011:
No. of persons found guilty in court of selected offences by Indigenous status, gender and principal penalty
Drive while licence disqualified or suspended
Total convicted
Imprisoned
Indigenous
women
212
23
Non-Indigenous
women
1229
36
Of those convicted of drive while licence disqualified or suspended in 2011:
10.8 % of Indigenous women were imprisoned
2.9 % of non-Indigenous women were imprisoned
BOCSAR NSW Criminal Court Statistics 2011:
No. of persons found guilty in court of selected offences by Indigenous status, gender and principal penalty
Breach of suspended sentence
Total convicted
Imprisoned
Indigenous
women
47
31
Non-Indigenous
women
72
33
Of those convicted of breach of suspended sentence in 2011:
66 % of Indigenous women were imprisoned
45.8 % of non-Indigenous women were imprisoned
BOCSAR NSW Criminal Court Statistics 2011:
No. of persons found guilty in court of selected offences by Indigenous status, gender and principal penalty
Invisibility of Aboriginal women
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner (2001):
•
Aboriginal women ‘remain largely invisible to policy
makers and program designers with very little attention
devoted to their specific situation and needs’
• Need for an Aboriginal women-centred approach to
diversionary policy and programming
Recommendations of research
1. Disaggregation of data
2. Impact Statements
3. More comprehensive evaluation
4. Expansion of sentencing options
Recommendations of research (cont.)
5. Alternative monitoring systems
6. Amendment of eligibility criteria
7. Expansion of diversionary programs
8. Staff training and resources
Recommendations of research (cont.)
9. Aboriginal Practice Checklist
10. Aboriginal staff
11. Appropriate housing
12. Holistic, one-stop shop model