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NEW SOUTH WALES
Arrested Development
Monday, 1 June, 2009
Arrested Development (Living Black SBS)
In 1991, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody highlighted the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in all aspects of the justice system.
Eighteen years on, the figures are still alarming. In New South Wales, more than half of all juveniles in detention are Aboriginal.
Watch online: Arrested Development
Your Say: How could juvenile justice services be improved?
But there are concerns that young offenders are not being adequately rehabilitated.
Tonight on Living Black, video journalist Allan Clarke meets a teenager struggling to get on with life after spending almost a third of it in detention.
We investigate what the State Government is doing to curb recidivism.
TRANSCRIPT:
Indigenous people are overrepresented in Australia's prison system. And in New South Wales, over 50% of all juveniles in detention are Aboriginal. Video journalist Allan Clarke investigates whether young Aboriginal offenders are being effectively rehabilitated.
VOICEOVER: New South Wales has Australia's largest and fastest-growing Aboriginal youth population. The majority of them will come into contact with the justice system. 17-year-old Jonathan, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, has spent almost a third of his life in juvenile detention.
JONATHAN: I was smoking a lot of drugs and stuff.
VOICEOVER: In 1991, the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody brought the staggering statistics of Indigenous incarceration rates to the nation's attention. 18 years on, the outlook for young Indigenous people in NSW remains grim. Currently, more than 50% of all juveniles in detention are Aboriginal. Since emerging from the justice system, Jonathan has been struggling.
JONATHAN: I developed a mental illness in there, when I went in. That was really bad for me. Then when I got out I didn't want to go back in, but then I ended up going back in one more time.
VOICEOVER: The NSW Department of Juvenile Justice currently has eight detention centres throughout the State. Recent reports of chronic overcrowding and a lack of resources in some centres have legal experts concerned.
JILLIAN FIELD, ABORIGINAL LEGAL SERVICE: There's a lack of programs, there is no school, and those conditions are very detrimental to the children.
VOICEOVER: But the department says conditions are satisfactory. It's planning to make room for another 92 young offenders and is focusing on early intervention.
PETER MUIR: Get those young people from Aboriginal backgrounds who hit us from the 10-14 age group and invest our time and our efforts there. We're not there yet, but that's one of the areas we're concentrating heavily on.
VOICEOVER: Jillian works with Aboriginal offenders at the Emu Plains Detention Centre in western Sydney, and says young people are not being adequately catered for and run the risk of reoffending.
JILLIAN FIELD: How can having children held in lock-down for 18-20 hours a day in a cell that just has a rotating television shows - it doesn't have books, it doesn't have anything for them to do - how can that be anything but inhumane? It's the perfect environment to breed more criminality.
VOICEOVER: Solicitor Katrina Wong says bail laws are inadequate and are having a detrimental effect on already disadvantaged youth.
KATRINA WONG, YOUTH JUSTICE COALITION: The most common one we saw were breaches of curfew, so a lot of young people were being arrested, spent the night overnight in police cells or in detention centres - coming in for a breach of curfew. And there was clearly no link with the original - for some cases, anyway - with the original offence.
VOICEOVER: The NSW police force believes it's necessary to keep a close eye on juveniles on bail.
STEPHEN BRADSHAW, NSW POLICE: They're out at all hours of the night, when they should be at home in bed, being supervised by their parents. They're committing other crime and that's what we need to prevent, to stop them getting into further trouble, and I guess what the police are doing is, in some ways, replacing parenting there.
VOICEOVER: While authorities and youth advocates argue over the best approach to curb the high numbers of young Aboriginal offenders, Jonathan reflects on his lost teenage years.
JONATHAN: It's a wasted life. You could have been doing better stuff instead of being locked up, you know. Like, I missed out on my 16th birthday - heaps of stuff - Christmas, New Years.
VOICEOVER: Bad choices have robbed Jonathan of five years of freedom. He hopes other young people will learn from his mistakes.
Source: Living Black SBS
Eighteen years on, the figures are still alarming. In New South Wales, more than half of all juveniles in detention are Aboriginal.
Watch online: Arrested Development
Your Say: How could juvenile justice services be improved?
But there are concerns that young offenders are not being adequately rehabilitated.
Tonight on Living Black, video journalist Allan Clarke meets a teenager struggling to get on with life after spending almost a third of it in detention.
We investigate what the State Government is doing to curb recidivism.
TRANSCRIPT:
Indigenous people are overrepresented in Australia's prison system. And in New South Wales, over 50% of all juveniles in detention are Aboriginal. Video journalist Allan Clarke investigates whether young Aboriginal offenders are being effectively rehabilitated.
VOICEOVER: New South Wales has Australia's largest and fastest-growing Aboriginal youth population. The majority of them will come into contact with the justice system. 17-year-old Jonathan, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, has spent almost a third of his life in juvenile detention.
JONATHAN: I was smoking a lot of drugs and stuff.
VOICEOVER: In 1991, the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody brought the staggering statistics of Indigenous incarceration rates to the nation's attention. 18 years on, the outlook for young Indigenous people in NSW remains grim. Currently, more than 50% of all juveniles in detention are Aboriginal. Since emerging from the justice system, Jonathan has been struggling.
JONATHAN: I developed a mental illness in there, when I went in. That was really bad for me. Then when I got out I didn't want to go back in, but then I ended up going back in one more time.
VOICEOVER: The NSW Department of Juvenile Justice currently has eight detention centres throughout the State. Recent reports of chronic overcrowding and a lack of resources in some centres have legal experts concerned.
JILLIAN FIELD, ABORIGINAL LEGAL SERVICE: There's a lack of programs, there is no school, and those conditions are very detrimental to the children.
VOICEOVER: But the department says conditions are satisfactory. It's planning to make room for another 92 young offenders and is focusing on early intervention.
PETER MUIR: Get those young people from Aboriginal backgrounds who hit us from the 10-14 age group and invest our time and our efforts there. We're not there yet, but that's one of the areas we're concentrating heavily on.
VOICEOVER: Jillian works with Aboriginal offenders at the Emu Plains Detention Centre in western Sydney, and says young people are not being adequately catered for and run the risk of reoffending.
JILLIAN FIELD: How can having children held in lock-down for 18-20 hours a day in a cell that just has a rotating television shows - it doesn't have books, it doesn't have anything for them to do - how can that be anything but inhumane? It's the perfect environment to breed more criminality.
VOICEOVER: Solicitor Katrina Wong says bail laws are inadequate and are having a detrimental effect on already disadvantaged youth.
KATRINA WONG, YOUTH JUSTICE COALITION: The most common one we saw were breaches of curfew, so a lot of young people were being arrested, spent the night overnight in police cells or in detention centres - coming in for a breach of curfew. And there was clearly no link with the original - for some cases, anyway - with the original offence.
VOICEOVER: The NSW police force believes it's necessary to keep a close eye on juveniles on bail.
STEPHEN BRADSHAW, NSW POLICE: They're out at all hours of the night, when they should be at home in bed, being supervised by their parents. They're committing other crime and that's what we need to prevent, to stop them getting into further trouble, and I guess what the police are doing is, in some ways, replacing parenting there.
VOICEOVER: While authorities and youth advocates argue over the best approach to curb the high numbers of young Aboriginal offenders, Jonathan reflects on his lost teenage years.
JONATHAN: It's a wasted life. You could have been doing better stuff instead of being locked up, you know. Like, I missed out on my 16th birthday - heaps of stuff - Christmas, New Years.
VOICEOVER: Bad choices have robbed Jonathan of five years of freedom. He hopes other young people will learn from his mistakes.
Source: Living Black SBS
