13 hours ago
Children's commissioners urge federal youth justice reform ahead of First Nations conference in Alice Springs
The nation's major leaders, experts and community voices on First Nations justice will meet today in Alice Springs, amid growing calls for federal action on incarceration rates and deaths in custody.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Their discussions will include a focus on what children's commissioners are calling the "disturbing erosion of hard-won safeguards intended to shield Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from institutional harm" across Australia.
The two-day meeting follows a series of changes around the country to youth justice, bail and policing pitched at community safety, which advocates say disproportionately affect First Nations adults and children.
It also comes less than a month after Warlpiri man Kumanjayi White died in police custody after he was restrained on the floor of an Alice Springs supermarket.
Mr White's death has prompted calls for an independent investigation and for federal action to prevent further deaths in custody, particularly of First Nations people.
Mr White's grandfather, senior Warlpiri elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, has written to the prime minister requesting the Commonwealth withhold funding to the NT until it independently investigates his death and establishes a police integrity commission.
He also supported calls for the federal government to implement all recommendations from the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Adult and youth justice in Australia are overseen by state and territory governments, but pressure has been growing for the federal government to play a greater role.
Productivity Commission data shows Australia is not on track to meet its adult incarceration target under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, and the nation is going backwards on its youth incarceration targets.
An independent, Indigenous-led review into Closing the Gap recently found "limited evidence that governments are making any systemic changes to meet [their] commitments".
Ahead of the Alice Springs conference, a group of children's commissioners have urged the federal government to take "immediate action" to improve the states and territories' accountability for meeting those targets.
The commissioners — who are part of the Australian and New Zealand Children's Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates (ANZCCGA) First Nations Caucus — also warned Australia is breaching its international obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
"These are not symbolic gestures. They are binding commitments," the group said in a statement.
In just over the past year, the Victorian, Queensland, NSW and NT governments have each passed changes expanding the circumstances under which children and teenagers can be held in custody, with South Australia recently releasing a "young offender plan" highlighting potential areas for reform.
The ANZCCGA commissioners have urged the federal government to enshrine Australia's obligations under the UN treaty into domestic law, urgently establish a national children's minister, and pass a human rights act.
In a statement, conference organiser the Justice Reform Initiative said the annual event would discuss "evidence-based reform" to the justice system to improve community safety.
"This conference represents the strong and diverse range of experience and expertise that policymakers can and should draw upon, instead of resorting to failed 'tough on crime' rhetoric and increasingly punitive legislation."
