Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

24 Juvenile JusticeThe juvenile justice system is mimicking the separation policies of the past (Western AboriginalLegal Service (Broken Hill) submission 775).The most distressing aspect about the level of juvenile justice intrusion in the lives of youngAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is the fact that entry into the system is usually thestart of a long career of incarceration for many (SNAICC submission 309 page 28).The removal of Indigenous children and young people can occur by way of juvenilejustice intervention either through the use of police custody or through the incarcerationof a young person in a juvenile detention centre. The length of separation can vary from afew hours or days to months or years. However, as submissions to the Inquiry noted, theeffects of the separation can last a lifetime.The disproportionate number (or over-representation) of Indigenous children andyoung people in the juvenile justice system and in particular in detention centres has beenrecognised for two decades. One of the earliest attempts to assess its level occurred in1977 during a symposium organised by the then Commonwealth Department ofAboriginal Affairs on the care and treatment of Indigenous young people in detentioncentres (Sommerlad 1977). During the 1980s there were numerous reports which outlinedthe over-representation of Indigenous young people in various State or Territoryjurisdictions (Cunneen and Robb 1987, Semple 1988, Gale et al 1990, Cunneen 1990).These studies indicated Aboriginal over-representation in police interventions, in courtappearances and in juvenile detention centres.Aboriginal child care agencies and Aboriginal legal services throughout Australiaconsistently drew attention during the 1980s to the problems associated with the highlevels of criminalisation of Indigenous youth (D’Souza 1990). Some commentatorsargued that the over-representation of Indigenous young people in juvenile correctionsrepresented a continuation of earlier removal policies by way of a process ofcriminalisation (Cunneen 1990 and 1994, O’Connor 1994). Aboriginal organisationssupported this interpretation in submissions to the Inquiry (see ALSWA submission 127,Western Aboriginal Legal Service (Broken Hill) submission 775 and SNAICCsubmission 309). Also supporting this argument is research in most Australianjurisdictions indicating not only that Indigenous young people are over-represented in thejuvenile justice system but that they are most over-represented at the most punitive end ofthe system, in detention centres (Gale et al 1990, Wilkie 1992, Crime Research Centre1995, Luke and Cunneen 1995, Criminal Justice Commission 1995). This phenomenon isnow recognised by many governments (for example, Queensland Government interim submissionpage 90).During the 1980s and early 1990s many Indigenous communities grappled withdeveloping alternative mechanisms for dealing with young people who offend. Thesealternative Indigenous mechanisms have tended to be localised, inadequately funded and