Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

custody,• the Children’s Court’s special jurisdiction over children, what criminal matters theChildren’s Court can determine and which matters must be dealt with by a highercourt,• appealing against a Children’s Court decision,• sentencing options,• special requirements relating to restitution and compensation, and• establishment of detention centres and their operations (Cunneen and White 1995 page177).Indigenous young people, like other young people, are also subject to a range ofgeneral criminal laws and laws relating to criminal procedure. An Indigenous youngperson is most likely to come before the Children’s Court for a violation of the law underthe Crimes Act or Criminal Code. Young people are also subject to the law governingpublic order under the various Summary Offences Acts and Police Offences Acts indifferent States and Territories. Again a sizeable proportion of young people broughtbefore the courts will be there for violations of public order governed by this type oflegislation. Public order charges are particularly prevalent against Indigenous youth.Indigenous young people may also be subject to any general sentencing laws. Forinstance, in NSW the Sentencing Act 1989 sets out requirements in relation to fixedterms, minimum terms and additional terms of imprisonment, as well as the relationshipbetween parole periods and imprisonment. In some cases specific sentencingrequirements covering such matters as mandatory sentences or additional terms will beincluded in the juvenile justice legislation. The WA Young Offenders Act 1994 and recentamendments to the NT Juvenile Justice Act 1995 are examples of juvenile justicelegislation containing specific sentencing regimes.This report does not analyse section by section the Commonwealth, State andTerritory legislation affecting Indigenous young people. Rather, it indicates some of thegeneral issues which were common areas of concern among witnesses to the Inquiry.Some of the specific criticisms of particular pieces of legislation will be dealt with inlater sections.The particular vulnerability of children entitles them to special protection duringinvestigation. Special considerations relate to the cultural background of the youngperson, particularly Indigenous young people. The ALSWA specifically noted that theWA legislation fails to address these issues comprehensively (submission 127 page 346).However, it is a problem common to most Australian juvenile justice legislation.Some jurisdictions have adopted a general principle on the need to consider thecultural background of a child in any decisions made under juvenile justice legislation(for example section 4(g) of the Queensland Juvenile Justice Act 1992). However, this isinadequate in ensuring that key principles such as the right of Indigenous self-