View - LIME Network

Children on care and protection ordersData on children under care and protection orders show the extent to which someform of legal intervention has been made for their protection.Not all orders are due to neglect and abuse — in some cases, family difficultiessuch as a parent being hospitalised or dying may be the reason why a child is placedin care. However, legal intervention is usually a last resort, after other interventionshave not been possible or have failed, and these data may provide some indicationof the social and cultural stress under which many people in Indigenouscommunities live.Box 1.50KEY MESSAGES• Almost 30 out of every 1000 Indigenous children aged 0–17 years were on care andprotection orders at 30 June 2006, compared to 5 per 1000 for non-Indigenouschildren (table 9.1.2).• From 1999-2000 to 2005-06, the rate of children on care and protection ordersincreased for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children in all states andterritories (table 9A.1.1).Repeat offendingCycles of intergenerational offending, where children of prisoners commit offencesthat result in their own imprisonment, is common for Indigenous families. Thiscycle of Indigenous imprisonment has severe effects on families and communities.It is important that people who have contact with the criminal justice system havethe opportunity to integrate back into the community, lead productive lives, and notre-offend.Box 1.51KEY MESSAGES• In 2006, a greater proportion of Indigenous prisoners (74 per cent) thannon-Indigenous prisoners (52 per cent) had prior adult imprisonment (figure 9.2.1).• From 2000 to 2006, there was no significant change at the national level in theproportion of Indigenous prisoners with prior adult imprisonment (table 9A.2.3).• In studies on juvenile offenders carried out in NSW, Queensland, WA and SA,Indigenous juveniles experienced a higher number of court reappearances andhigher rates of repeat offending than non-Indigenous juveniles (table 9A.2.6 andfigures 9.2.4, 9.2.6 and 9.2.7).OVERVIEW 45