Latest news with #JackieFitzgerald
Sky News AU
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Govt agency calls for ‘urgent' action as NSW prison population swells to five-year high amid alarming Indigenous incarceration rates
A New South Wales government agency is calling for "urgent" sweeping changes to address inmate numbers as the state's prison population swells to a five-year high. The total number of adults within correctional facilities across the state reached 13,103 in March, the highest since March 2020, a report released on Wednesday revealed. A steep decline in prisoner numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic was followed by a relatively stable period, but inmate levels have been rising steadily over the past 18 months. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) quarterly report said the number of adults incarcerated in NSW has spiked by 1,055 people, or 8.8 per cent, since November 2023. BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said while the 'overall' prison population remains below pre-pandemic levels, the number of Aboriginal inmates now 'well exceeds' levels in 2019 and 'continues to grow'. The report said the increase is due to a surge in Aboriginal remandees, who are unconvicted prisoners awaiting court hearings. The number of Indigenous remandees rose by 63 per cent in the five years to March 2025, with domestic violence allegations accounting for a large part of the increase in Aboriginal adults being remanded, it said. 'These figures underscore the urgent need to consider policies, interventions and practice changes to reduce Aboriginal incarceration, as current trends contradict the Closing the Gap commitment to reduce Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system by at least 15% by 2031,' Ms Fitzgerald said. The Closing the Gap commitments includes reducing the rate of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in detention facilities by 30 per cent by 2031. BOSCAR's quarterly update said there were 4,244 Aboriginal prisoners in NSW as of March this year, who represented 32 per cent of the state's total adult inmates. There had been an increase of 520 Aboriginal inmates, or 14 per cent, since November 2023, while the number of non-Aboriginal prisoners was up by 359 people, or 4.3 per cent, over the same period.
The Guardian
17-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Number of NSW children in youth detention up by one third, new data shows
Children are increasingly being held in youth detention after being refused bail in New South Wales, according to new data, as experts warn locking up more young people will not curb crime. The data released by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar) found 225 young people were in custody in December 2024 – up 54 on the year before. The number of young Indigenous Australians in youth detention increased by almost 22% to 129. The data released by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar) found 225 young people were in custody in December 2024 – up 54 on the year before. The number of young Indigenous Australians in youth detention increased by almost 22% to 129. The executive director of Bocsar, Jackie Fitzgerald, said the 32% overall increase in the youth custody population was the result of more young people being held on remand after an 'increase in the severity of bail decisions'. 'What we can see is that over the past year the remand rate has increased across a whole range of offences, not just car theft and break in, but assault charges too,' Fitzgerald said. According to the latest crime statistics from Bocsar for last year, youth crime rates remained steady, with only a slight uptick in shoplifting offences. The NSW government will this week seek to extend controversial laws until 2028 that make it harder for children to get bail. One influential independent MP told Guardian Australia he will support the extension of the laws, but does not think it is the solution. 'It's not actually going to change the long-term outcomes for communities or for people,' said Roy Butler, a former police administrator and the independent MP for Barwon, which takes in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the state. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Last year, in response to calls for the government to act on regional crime, the premier, Chris Minns, introduced a year-long change to the youth bail laws that made it harder for young people who allegedly commit a break and enter or car theft offence while on bail to get bail again. At the time the NSW Bar Association and Law Society of NSW opposed the changes, arguing it could jail more vulnerable children. Fitzgerald said the increasing number of children in custody was not entirely due to the legislative change, given the range of offences, although she thought it likely had an influence. 'Sometimes with legislative change, even though it is specific to a certain offence, can send a signal about the government's intention with bail and that can be influential on bail authorities,' she said. Alongside the punitive measures, the Minns government had also invested in a number of diversionary programs, including unveiling a further $2m directed towards stemming youth crime when it announced it would seek to extend the tightening of the youth bail laws. In Barwon, which covers 44% of the state and takes in communities such as Bourke and Walgett, Butler said more investment was needed in diversionary programs to respond to the underlying causes of youth crime. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'What we know is that young people who are committing less serious crimes go on to commit more serious crimes the longer that they're in contact with the criminal justice system,' he said. Butler said he supported the government's bail laws because they stem reoffending in the short term in the absence of enough diversionary programs. 'We've got to really get better at finding diversionary programs for young people so that we can try to set them on a different path before they spend the next 40 years in and out of custody,' he said. On average it cost $2,748.96 a day for each young person detained in a youth justice centre in 2021-22, according to government figures released in 2023. Shortly after the government announced it would seek to extend the youth bail laws, the chief executive of the Aboriginal Legal Service, Karly Warner, said the punitive measure would undo gains made by investment in diversionary practices. 'Locking kids up has never worked, anywhere,' she said. 'Increasing child imprisonment has not only failed to reduce crime, but is putting another generation of children into an express training program for a life of crime and suffering.' Last week in parliament the police minister, Yasmin Catley, said there was 'no one-size-fits-all solution'. 'We know that the best thing we can do is to prevent crime in the first place,' she said.
