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Annual Reports on the Implementation of the Commonwealth Government Responses to the Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) are coordinated and prepared by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
The 1996/97 Annual Report is the fifth and final report on the implementation of the 339 recommendations for which Commonwealth agencies have identified a lead or contributing agency responsibility. This report completes the Commonwealth's implementation and reporting requirements for specific reporting on RCIADIC implementation.
The report has been separated by the lead agencies responsible for recommendations. Each is listed, with contributing agencies where applicable, under the subject areas identified by the Royal Commission. The subject areas are the issues under which the Royal Commission made various recommendations.
The report format requires agencies to:
* report on activities during the 1996/97 reporting period;
* detail the lasting changes which have been made over the five year period;
* identify strategies for the future, including Indigenous involvement.
The report is published in three volumes:
* the first contains statistics relating to the trends in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody and incarceration;
* the second contains material detailing policy and programs which address the disadvantage of Indigenous peoples;
* the third deals with breaking the cycle of the criminal justice system.
...
It is now ten years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) was established, and five years since its recommendations were accepted by government. This fifth report of the Commonwealth's implementation of the RCIADIC recommendations confirms that a new impetus for sustained and integrated effort is required to address increasing numbers of Indigenous deaths in custody, the increasing over-representation in custody, increasing rates of incarceration and increasing rates of contact with the criminal justice system. This report also finalises the Commonwealth's commitment to report separately on RCIADIC implementation.
As Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs it is my responsibility to draw the Government's attention to information contained in this report which clearly sets out that Indigenous deaths in custody have not been reduced; on the contrary, they are increasing, along with rates of incarceration and rates of contact with the criminal justice system. Since 31 May 1989, the cut-off date for the deaths investigated by the Royal Commission, some 106 Aboriginal and two Torres Strait Islander custodial deaths have occurred. This is an average of 13.3 Indigenous deaths annually compared with an average of 10.5 during the period covered by the Royal Commission's investigations.
The Australian Institute of Criminology's (AIC) account in response to Recommendations 41 and 47, advises that 15 Indigenous persons died in custody or during police operations during the year ended 30 June 1997. The AIC reports there has been a substantial reduction in the proportion of deaths in policy custody in institutional settings, for example, police lock-ups. This effort by police forces is welcomed. However, the AIC also advises the need for action on the increasing numbers of people dying in community settings while police are in the process of attempting to detain them, particularly high speed police pursuits. Deaths in prison custody have also increased.
The Royal Commission was established jointly by the Commonwealth, the States
and the Northern Territory in October 1987, to inquire
into the deaths of 99
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons who had died in custody between
1 January 1980 and 31 May 1989. Its task was to examine not only the deaths
and the related actions taken by authorities, but also
any relevant social,
cultural and legal underlying issues relating to deaths in custody of
Indigenous peoples in this nation.
The Commission's Final Report was widely accepted as an important and historic document, its 11 volumes and over 5000 pages representing the most comprehensive official account of the disparity of Indigenous peoples' situations in comparison to the broader Australian society ever compiled. The Commission detailed an extensive set of 339 recommendations to government, ranging broadly across the jurisdictional systems as well as related societal and historical factors. Sets of recommendations address areas including:
* matters arising from the deaths such as family counselling;
* post-death investigations;
* statistical and research information on Indigenous deaths in custody;
* diversion from policy custody;
* imprisonment as a last resort;
* custodial health and safety;
* prison custody;
* relations with police and the criminal justice system;
* young Indigenous persons and the juvenile justice system.
Following presentation of the Commission's Final Report in April 1991, all states and territories joined with the Commonwealth in committing to a national response to addressing Indigenous deaths in custody and underlying issues. All but one of the 339 recommendations was supported. In 1992, the Commonwealth allocated significant funding, some $400 million, to Commonwealth agencies to support implementation of the recommendations.
For each of the last four years, the Commonwealth has met its commitment to publicly account for the adoption and implementation of the recommendations, and monitoring of such. Commonwealth agencies with either lead or contributing agency responsibility for the various recommendations have annually provided an account of their actions to address the recommendations. These accounts are compiled into the Commonwealth's annual report.
This annual report is different from previous years' in that it is organised into specific agency responsibilities rather than the specific recommendations. As the RCIADIC recommendations were so wide and detailed, there is an inherent difficulty in accurately ascertaining what has, and has not, occurred. There are instances where recommendations are not reported on. This year's format required agencies to report on activities during the 1996/97 reporting period, the lasting changes that have been made in the five years to date, and to identify strategies for the future. The record of outcomes from the last five years of effort facilitates closer scrutiny of achievements against the spirit of the Royal Commission recommendations. Statements on future action commit Commonwealth agencies to sustaining attention to the recommendations.
State and territory governments have also provided regular, separate, annual reports on their efforts to implement the recommendations. Almost two thirds of the RCIADIC recommendations are directed to issues of criminal justice reform, and reform of police, prisons, juvenile detention centres and coronial practice. These matters are under the exclusive jurisdiction of state and territory governments.
Hence I welcomed the strong representation and cooperative approaches of state and territory, as well as Commonwealth government Ministers, at the Ministerial Summit on Indigenous Deaths in Custody convened in Canberra in July 1997. Twenty Ministers with responsibility for Indigenous affairs, law and justice, policing and corrective services and juvenile justice were involved. Indigenous networks directly involved in RCIADIC matters had prepared towards the Ministerial Summit with an Indigenous Summit held in February. Recommendations from the Indigenous Summit were presented to the Ministerial Summit, and, importantly, Indigenous representatives were invaluable partners at the Ministerial Summit.
The main outcome is that states and territories (except the Northern Territory, as the Minister stated he was not authorised to do so) agreed to develop strategic plans for the coordination, funding and delivery of Indigenous programs and services by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments.
These plans will focus on addressing over-representation in the criminal justice system including underlying social, economic and cultural issues; justice issues; customary law; law reform; and funding levels and other aspects. Plans will include jurisdictional targets for reducing the rate of over-representation; methods of service delivery, and mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation.
The Outcomes Statement also foreshadowed the development of multilateral agreements between Indigenous peoples and governments focusing on the same areas. I have committed to continuing to work with my colleague the Attorney-General, to progress the Summit outcomes at the Commonwealth level. The Ministerial Council on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, the Australian Police Ministers Council, and the Corrective Services Ministers Conference, are clearly appropriate forums to monitor development and implementation of such plans.
The Commission's most compelling finding was that the real lives and deaths it examined were symptomatic of the conditions faced generally by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout Australia today. The Royal Commission found that the causes of deaths in custody were attributable to the disparate conditions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples live with, and discrimination. It dealt in detail in its recommendations with the underlying causes, a central theme being to address the enormous disparity Indigenous peoples contend with in their daily lives. Realising our Government's stated policy of significant improvement in basic services areas -- education, employment, housing and health -- is critical. Such achievement relies on the continuing and coordinated effort of Commonwealth agencies with lead responsibility for these areas, as well as state and territory and local governments. The partnership role of Indigenous networks in these endeavours is also crucial.
In accordance with the undertaking given by the Commonwealth in its response to Recommendation 1, I refer this report to Parliament, and specifically to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs for consideration.
Senator John Herron
Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs
...
The Royal Commission highlighted the need for the monitoring, on an on-going basis, of Australian deaths in custody. The National Deaths in Custody Monitoring and Research Program at the Australian Institute of Criminology was given this responsibility under Recommendations 41 and 47 of the Commonwealth's responses to the Royal Commission.
This chapter implements those two recommendations. These involve the preparation of an annual report specifically addressing:
* trends in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody;
* trends in the incarceration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in juvenile correctional institutions, police lock-ups and prisons.
This fifth and final Annual Report provides up-to-date information on deaths in custody. It updates, where possible, the information provided in previous annual reports on the emerging trends occurring in the areas of deaths in police and prison custody. It also provides analysis and discussion on what trends have emerged in the area in the five years since the Royal Commission. The report highlights the levels of over-representation of Australia's Indigenous peoples in prison, police and juvenile corrections custody.
The 95 deaths during the year ended 30 June 1997 in all forms of custody is the highest number ever reported since 1980 and represents a 27 per cent increase in the total number of deaths reported during the previous year. Thirty-two of these deaths occurred in police custody or custody-related police operations and 62 in prison custody. One youth died whilst detained in the custody of a juvenile detention centre.
Table 1
Deaths in Custody, Australia, Year to 30 June 1997
Custodial authority Aborigina Torres Strait Islander Other Total
Police 6 26 32
Prison 7 2 53 62
Juvenile detention 1 1
Total 13 2 80 95
Of the 95 deaths in custody, one-quarter (26) were by hanging and slightly more were from natural causes (29).
It
must be highlighted that there has been a substantial reduction in the
proportion of deaths in police custody in institutional
settings. During the
Royal Commission period 1980 to 1989, police custody deaths averaged 21 per
year and accounted for approximately
38 per cent of all deaths, ranging from 12
deaths in 1980/81 to a peak of 39 deaths in 1986/87. Between 1990/91 and
1996/97, both
the proportion and number of deaths in institutional police
custody, for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, have fallen
significantly
from 16 deaths (31 per cent) in 1990/91 to 5 deaths
(7 per
cent) in 1996/97.
In fact, only 16 per cent of all police custody deaths in 1996/97 occurred in police lock-ups, police vehicles or in hospitals following transfer from a police lock-up compared to 62 per cent of all police custody deaths in 1990/91. This is a most noteworthy achievement and a credit to Australia's police services in their successful attempts to implement many of the recommendations from the Royal Commission.
On the other hand, immediate action is needed in addressing the increasing numbers of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people dying in the community while police are in the process of detaining or attempting to detain them in such situations as high speed police pursuits, sieges and shootings. In 1990/91, 38 per cent of all deaths in police custody or custody-related operations occurred in these type of community settings as a result of police pursuits, shootings or sieges. This rose significantly to 84 per cent during 1996/97.
Deaths in prison custody rose steadily over the 17 year period from 28 deaths in 1980 to 61 deaths in 1997. During the Royal Commission period, prison deaths averaged 55 per year and accounted for 61 per cent of all custodial deaths. Between 1990/91 and 1996/97, both the proportion and number of deaths of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people have risen significantly from 35 deaths (67 per cent) in 1990/91 to 61 deaths (91 per cent of all institutional custodial deaths) in 1996/97.
There were 15 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in all forms of custody in 1996/97. While this figure is marginally lower than for the previous year, there has been an increasing upward trend emerging over recent years. The upward swing is reflected in the number of deaths in both police and prison custody.
The six Aboriginal deaths in all forms of police custody is, except for one year, the highest number recorded since 1990/91. It must be highlighted that no Indigenous death in police custody occurred in a police lock-up during 1996/97. While there has been a notable reduction in the number of Indigenous people dying in police lock-ups, concern needs to be directed towards the high number of Indigenous deaths occurring in the course of custody-related police operations, specifically the large number of Aboriginal deaths occurring in the course of, or immediately following, police pursuits.
Aboriginal people are heavily over-represented in the number of custodial deaths compared with their number in the community. They represent only 1.4 per cent of the national adult population but this year more than 15 per cent of all custodial deaths were of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. This is a significant decrease from the previous year when they accounted for 25 per cent of all custodial deaths.
During the Royal Commission period approximately two-thirds (61 per cent) of all Indigenous deaths occurred in police custody. Since the Royal Commission this situation has changed dramatically. Between 1990/91 and 1996/97 this figure fell to represent 17 per cent of all Indigenous deaths during the period. At the same time Indigenous deaths in prison custody escalated to 83 per cent of the total. Clearly action is needed to address this alarming upward trend occurring in Australia's prisons.
In recent years the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our nation's prisons has continued to increase, as has their level of over-representation in both police and prison custody. We are now faced with increasing numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people hanging themselves or dying from heart disease in our prisons. Measures must be taken to implement the key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody that focussed on minimising the numbers or people being held in prison and providing them with high quality care.
Since 31 May 1989, the cut-off date for the deaths investigated by the Royal Commission, a total of 106 Aboriginal, 2 Torres Strait Islander and 514 non-Indigenous custodial deaths have occurred throughout Australia. This is an average of 13.3 Indigenous deaths annually compared with an average of 10.5 during the period covered by the Royal Commission's investigations. On 9 May 1991 the Royal Commission's National Report was tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament. Since that date an average of 13.8 Indigenous deaths have occurred each year. These figures cover deaths in both institutional and community settings.
No state or territory regularly publishes information on the number of people it takes into police custody. For this reason, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recommended, and all jurisdictions agreed, that the Australian Institute of Criminology (in conjunction with the police services) regularly conduct national surveys on people in police cells. The first such survey, the National Police Custody Survey, was conducted in August 1988 under the auspices of the Royal Commission. The second and third such surveys were conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology in August 1992 and August 1995.
Now that the survey has been conducted three times, it is possible to point to changes in the use of police custody over time. A comparison of the period 1988-1992 concluded that, nationally, the total number of incidents of police custody had decreased by 10.2 per cent. For the period of the three surveys (1988-1995) the actual number of incidents has decreased by 23 per cent. Nationally, for Indigenous peoples, there was a fall of 10.5 per cent between 1988 and 1992, and a fall of 4.7 per cent between 1992 and 1995.
Although there was an overall reduction in the number of occasions of police custody, the proportion of the total who were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people did not decrease. In 1988 and 1992, Indigenous peoples represented 28.6 and 28.8 per cent respectively of all persons held in police custody. The figure for 1995 increased to 31.1 per cent.
The levels of over-representation, on a state-by-state basis, are set out in the following table. Nationally, the level of over-representation increased from 26 in 1992 to 31 in 1995. All the jurisdictions, except for Western Australia and the Northern Territory, had larger over-representation ratios in 1995 compared to 1992. Over-representation levels in 1992 are shown in the Table [Table 2].
Table 2
Levels of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over-representation in police custody jurisdiction, August 1995
Jurisdiction NEW VIC QLD WA SA TAS NT ACT Australia
1995 Level 23 14 22 47 32 7 12 41 31
1992 Level 16 10 13 52 21 3 14 4 26
The report for the 1996/97 financial year included additional information from the National Police Custody Survey conducted in August 1995. The most salient features of these new data are:
* while Indigenous males were 28 times more likely to be taken into police custody than their non-Indigenous counterparts, the level of over-representation for Indigenous females was 58;
* among non-Indigenous people, the highest rate of police custody was observed for those in the 17-19 year age group, while among Indigenous peoples, this peak was observed for those in the 20-24 year age group. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of all ages were more likely to be taken into police custody than their non-Indigenous counterparts;
* one in four incidents involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were due to protective custody owing to public drunkenness in the jurisdictions where this is not an offence (New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and the ACT). Among incidents involving non-Indigenous people, only one in fifty were due to protective custody.
For Australia as a whole, one in 59 Indigenous people aged 17 years and over was in prison on 30 June 1995. Only one in 935 non-Indigenous people aged 17 years and over was in prison at that time.
The number of Indigenous people in prison custody in 1995 was 2985 compared to 2041 in 1990. All the jurisdictions reported increases in their Aboriginal prison populations in 1995 with respect to 1990.
The levels of over-representation, on a state-by-state basis, are set out in the following table. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians were 15.8 times more likely to be in prison than their non-Indigenous counterparts.
Table 3
Levels of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over-representation in prison jurisdiction, 30 June 1995
Jurisdiction NEW VIC QLD WA SA TAS NT ACT Australia
Level 12.8 16.2 14.8 23.2 22.4 3.6 9.1 17.0 15.8
The over-representation ratios, ie the ratio of the rate of imprisonment of Indigenous peoples to the rate of imprisonment for non-Indigenous people, continue to be not only high, but increasing over the period under review. Nationally, the level of over-representation increased from 13.5 in 1990 to 15.8 in 1995.
The Australian Institute of Criminology holds limited data on Indigenous people in juvenile corrective institutions, since September 1993. The situation on 30 June 1997 is outlined in this report, and some preliminary assessment of trends is made.
New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia contribute the majority of Indigenous people under detention in juvenile corrective institutions. Eighty three per cent of all the Indigenous prisoners on 30 June 1997 were recorded in these three states, which also had the highest detention rates, followed by South Australia. Overall, detention rates in South Australia had declined over the four year period from 1993 to 1997, but they seem to be rising in the other states, particularly New South Wales and Western Australia. Nationally, the juvenile detention rate has increased by 43 per cent between 30 September 1993 and 30 June 1997.
...
The RCGRMU was established in 1992 in direct response to Recommendation 1. Following the downsizing and restructuring of ATSIC in line with Government directions (signalled in the 1995/96 Annual Report), the functions of the unit were incorporated into ATSIC's Monitoring and Reporting Section (MARS) from 1 July 1996.
The Section oversaw ATSIC's role of monitoring Commonwealth agencies' responses to the implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission with a primary focus on managing the collation of information from the various agencies and the production of this report. The Annual Report is the main means of reporting the Commonwealth's implementation of its commitment to provide comprehensive, integrated and publicly accountable processes.
MARS provided briefings to the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, ATSIC Commissioners and ATSIC Executive, dealt with RCIADIC monitoring and reporting-related correspondence and issues, and liaised with relevant monitoring networks including those in the states and territories. The Section also published research focussed on monitoring implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission, commissioned during 1995/96, including:
* Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths Research Register, maintained by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS);
* Indigenous Deaths in Custody 1989-1996, A report by the Office of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, May 1997;
* Keeping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People out of Custody: An Evaluation of the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Chris Cunneen and David McDonald, ATSIC August 1996;
* The 1995/96 Annual Report on the Commonwealth Government responses to the Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Royal Commission Government Response Monitoring Unit, ATSIC 1997.
1995/96 Annual Report
The 1995/96 Annual Report was tabled in Parliament on 7 February 1997. Over 4800 copies were distributed nationally to Indigenous organisations, ATSIC regional council members, Commonwealth ministers with implementation responsibilities, state and territory ministers with responsibility for Indigenous affairs, and other bodies and individuals.
The (RCIADIC) Standing Group of Commonwealth Representatives
MARS' role included liaison with the various Commonwealth agencies with RCIADIC responsibilities, as listed in the Commonwealth Schedule of Commitments, and drawing together the (RCIADIC) Standing Group of Commonwealth Representatives.
The standing group's cooperative effort to develop this report and issues-related contact with other agencies, chiefly the Australian Institute of Criminology, have been the main means of Commonwealth departments and authorities' cooperation and coordination with ATSIC in this final year of reporting on Commonwealth government implementation. The group met on three occasions during 1996/97.
Ministerial Council on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (MCATSIA) and State/Territory Reports
During 1996/97, MCATSIA continued its consideration of progress in implementing RCIADIC recommendations in accordance with the intention of the Royal Commission. MCATSIA had identified the need for a national monitoring framework to illustrate national trends and reporting on jurisdictional activity in addressing identified issues under the Royal Commission. Such reporting was to include best practice examples. MARS provided briefs and talking points on Royal Commission issues for the MCATSIA discussions and associated processes.
MCATSIA is the key forum through which the Commonwealth committed to work with state and territory governments to promote state/territory adoption, implementation, annual reporting on adopted recommendations and cross-tabling of monitoring reports in Commonwealth, state and territory parliaments. The role of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, the Australian Police Ministers Council, and the Corrective Services Ministers Conference have also become central.
All of the states and territories continued individual reporting and prepared annual reports. The most current reports (as received in ATSIC's MARS) are:
* QLD 1994;
* NSW 1995/96;
* ACT 1995/96;
* VIC 1995/96;
* TAS 1995;
* SA 1995/96;
* WA 1994;
* NT 1994/95.
Individual State and Territory reports were cross-tabled in the Federal Parliament as they became available.
Ministerial and Indigenous Summits
ATSIC provided key support for two major 1997 summits developed in direct response to the new Government's election promise to convene a Ministerial Summit to address the escalating numbers of Indigenous deaths in custody and the high incarceration rates of Indigenous peoples.
ATSIC proposed an Indigenous Summit to be held prior to the Ministerial Summit to provide an opportunity for Indigenous participation and views to be formulated for formal presentation to the summit. ATSIC's MARS consulted with Indigenous communities during late 1996 through state/territory Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committees (AJACs).
The Indigenous Summit held in Canberra in February 1997 focussed on four main topics:
* juvenile justice;
* coronial investigations;
* policing;
* prisons.
Participants at the Indigenous Summit raised equal concern about the underlying issues in relation to Indigenous deaths in custody and recommended that they be addressed at the Ministerial Summit.
The Ministerial Summit was held in Canberra in July 1997. Twenty ministers from Indigenous affairs, policing, corrective services and Attorney-Generals' portfolios attended. It was the first time that so many ministers from a variety of portfolios gathered to discuss the serious problems of increasing numbers of Indigenous peoples imprisoned and the continuing number of deaths in custody. Indigenous representatives were also full participants during the proceedings. Discussion was focussed, open and frank. Primarily it centred on the underlying issues of why Indigenous peoples come into contact with the criminal justice system, as well as over-representation and custodial care. The cooperation between delegates is reflected in the outcomes statement.
The main outcome is that states and territories (except the Northern Territory, as the Minister stated he was not authorised to do so) agreed to develop strategic plans for the coordination, funding and delivery of Indigenous programs and services by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments. These plans will focus on addressing over-representation in the criminal justice system including underlying social, economic and cultural issues; justice issues; customary law; law reform; and funding levels and other aspects. Plans will include jurisdictional targets for reducing the rate of over-representation, methods of service delivery, and mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation. The outcomes statement also foreshadowed the development of multilateral agreements between Indigenous peoples and governments focusing on the same areas.
The Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs has committed to continuing to work with the Attorney-General to progress the summit outcomes at the Commonwealth level.
ATSIC and the Attorney-General's Department coordinated development of the Ministerial Summit; ATSIC convened the Indigenous Summit.
RCIADIC Recommendation 1 proposed Commonwealth and State and Territory governments' adoption, implementation and reporting of all RCIADIC recommendations in consultation and cooperative effort with ATSIC and Indigenous organisations. The Commonwealth committed, to wherever possible, make use of Indigenous organisations in implementing RCIADIC recommendations. Recommendations 2 and 3 proposed establishment of State/Territory AJACs.
At the national level, three structures carry responsibility for promoting and ensuring Indigenous involvement and advice on RCIADIC implementation, monitoring and reporting, viz:
* the Office of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner;
* the National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee (NAJAC) and its members;
* the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
The active efforts of state/territory structures of NAJAC and ATSIC are particularly important given that the states and Territories have the primary responsibility for implementing recommendations relating to criminal justice systems.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
In responding to the RCIADIC recommendations, the Commonwealth also committed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (ATSISJC) (established within the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission) to producing an annual State of the Nation report on the exercise and enjoyment of human rights by Indigenous Australians and to establishing cooperative relationships with ATSIC. While the ATSISJC legislative provisions make no explicit reference to RCIADIC recommendations, many of the recommendations relate directly to the human rights of Indigenous Australians. The Commissioner seeks the views and perspectives of Indigenous peoples wherever possible.
The Commissioner had signalled in his 1995/96 Annual Report that he:
* would continue general monitoring functions during 1996/97, with much of the content of areas monitored being determined by political and social developments and concerns as they arose;
* intended to focus on the right to housing, including the impact of the lack of this right on contact with the criminal justice system;
* intended to further examine the juvenile justice system, with particular focus on diversionary schemes and the involvement of Indigenous peoples in formulating alternative programs (the Commissioner had been approached during 1995/96 by juvenile justice ministers, magistrates, legal organisations and departmental officials to look at ways of altering law, policy and practice to reduce the number of Indigenous youth in detention);
* would continue to monitor key legislation and legislative amendments, including juvenile justice and child welfare areas;
* would further the National Community Education Project and the National Indigenous Legal Curriculum Development.
During 1996/97, there were strong relationships between ATSISJC and ATSIC on Royal Commission related matters. The ATSISJC office was commissioned to examine the deaths of Indigenous peoples in custody since the Royal Commission ceased investigations (May 1989-January 1996, see reference above). ATSIC made an extensive submission to the HREOC National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families in October 1996. ATSIC also supported the role of the Social Justice Commissioner during a period of critical media attention in December 1996 at the time of the tabling of his fourth State of the Nation annual report. The ATSIC Chairperson noted:
The role of the Social Justice Commissioner must not be sidelined, particularly when he is fulfilling his statutory responsibilities, including the requirement to promote discussion and awareness of human rights in relation to Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders.
The National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee (NAJAC) and its members
During 1996/97, NAJAC, comprising the chairpersons of all state and territory AJACs, was particularly active in drawing the public's attention to continuing deaths in custody, high incarceration rates and the role of all governments in addressing these matters.
NAJAC was established in late 1995 as an agreed outcome of the second national conference of state/territory AJACs held in Brisbane in August 1995. NAJAC is resourced for its role of providing a national perspective on criminal justice issues by the Attorney-General's Department which provides funding for it to meet up to three times a year.
In 1995/96, it was reported that 1996/97 intentions included establishing greater community awareness of the role and function of NAJAC and its member AJACs.
State/territory Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committees and particularly relevant interested Indigenous bodies are established as outlined below. AJACs are the primary means of ensuring Indigenous involvement in the implementation of RCIADIC recommendations at State and Territory level, together with Indigenous Legal Services. l
Table 4
State/Territory Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committees and Indigenous bodies
Queensland Indigenous Advisory Council (1997, amalgamating the previous
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Overview Committee and the
Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee, first appointed 31 May 1993).
New South Wales Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee was established in June
1993 by
the then Attorney-General and held its first meeting on 10 June. A
Deaths
in Custody Watch Committee is active.
Victoria Aboriginal Justice Advocacy Committee established in mid-1993.
Australian Capital Territory Deaths in Custody Working Party, a subcommittee of
the Chief Minister's
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultative
Council fulfils the role of
an AJAC in the ACT. The Consultative Council
was appointed 1996/97.
Tasmania Was proposed to be established 1996/97.
South Australia Aboriginal Justice Advocacy Committee was established in the
1992/93
financial year.
Northern Territory Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee established in March 1996.
Western Australia Aboriginal Justice Committee (the interim AJAC was endorsed
in 1992).
A model for the AJC was developed and endorsed by Cabinet in
November 1994 and funded as the AJC on a recurrent basis as a result of
the 1995/96 budget process. A Deaths in Custody Watch Committee also operates
actively.
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