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(and the likelihood of a conviction and criminal record), little more than one in tenIndigenous young people are similarly treated. Put another way, ‘the percentage ofAboriginal offenders dealt with through the police caution program is one-third the rateof non-Aboriginal offenders’ (Victorian Government final submission page 121; see also Mackay1996a pages 9-10).The Inquiry was told that in NSW,… there is concern about the differential use of police cautions particularly for Aboriginaljuvenile offenders. Measures are being introduced by the Police Service to encourage greater useof police cautions in dealing with young people generally and in particular with Aboriginal youngpeople (NSW Government submission page 77).However, despite recognising the need for change, the NSW Government simplynoted that ‘police use of discretion (arrest, bail, caution, etc) is currently undergoingdetailed review’ (submission page 77). In NSW an Aboriginal young person is less likelyto receive a caution than a non-Aboriginal young person on a similar charge with asimilar criminal history. In other words a non-Indigenous young person is treated morefavourably than an Indigenous youth in similar circumstances (Luke and Cunneen 1995 page29).In Queensland the perception of Indigenous organisations such as the AboriginalJustice Advisory Council and various Aboriginal Legal Services was that there wasdiscriminatory intervention by police against Indigenous young people in the firstinstance and, arising out of that intervention, Indigenous young people were less likely tobe cautioned and more likely to be charged than non-Indigenous youth. Police cautionsare not issued to Indigenous young people in situations where public visibility and publicorder are seen as issues (Cunneen and McDonald 1997 page 181).In South Australia, Aboriginal young people are half as likely to receive a policecaution as non-Aboriginal youth: 17% of Indigenous youth matters end in a policecaution compared to 36% of non-Indigenous matters (Wundersitz 1996 page xx). Thesituation is particularly noteworthy because SA has only recently introduced officialpolice cautions as part of a new juvenile justice strategy. The failure of Aboriginal youngpeople to receive the benefits of police diversion was a feature of the old SouthAustralian juvenile justice system. The problem has been reproduced although thelegislation and particular programs have changed (Gale et al 1990, Wundersitz 1996 page xx).Currently there is a general trend to provide in legislation for Indigenous elders toissue cautions in place of police officers. This is proposed in section 12 of the newTasmanian Youth Justice Bill and in NSW government proposals for new legislation(NSW Attorney-General’s Department 1996 page x). Section 14 of the QueenslandJuvenile Justice Act 1992 provides for cautioning by Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander elders instead of police at the request of an authorised police officer.The situation in Queensland shows the need not simply to change legislation but