The mission of the Northern Territory Correctional Service is to contribute to the overall government approach of building safer communities through providing safe, secure, humane custody, while reducing crime through […]

The Magistrates Early Referral into Treatment (MERIT) program is a New South Wales court-based scheme targeting adult defendants appearing before a participating Local Court who have a demonstrable illicit drug […]

Tom Calma presents his speech at the AIJA Family Violence Conference in Brisbane. Family violence is defined in context to kinship in Indigenous communities. The complexities of Indigenous family structure […]

This report provides an investigation of early intervention and diversionary practices aimed at preventing offending behaviour in Indigenous young people with a cognitive disability and/or a mental health problem. Specifically, […]

Issues of Indigenous disadvantage and dysfunction are before our eyes more frequently and more prominently than ever before. Barely a day goes by without another chilling and heartbreaking story of […]

The Mount Theo-Yuendumu Substance Misuse Aboriginal Corporation and associated diversionary programs are the Yuendumu community’s current best strategy for dealing with substance misuse among its young people. This article describes […]

This paper provides a brief overview of current policies, strategies and projects relating to crime prevention among Indigenous communities in Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand. The report […]

This report provides background notes for two workshops associated with the 2009 Community safety and indigenous peoples conference in Ottawa. Topics for the first workshop, on the main trends and […]

The South Australia Police Operation Mandrake highlighted the very significant issue of serious repeat offending by a small number of young people. This report considers serious youth repeat offending in […]

New Zealand has a very high rate of imprisonment when contrasted with other comparable countries. Nevertheless New Zealand also has a number of initiatives and projects which seek to engage […]

It seems clear that child sexual assault is chronically under reported in Indigenous communities and that prosecution levels are low. This article examines the prevalence of child sexual assault in […]

This evaluation of the New South Wales Police Service’s Aboriginal Strategic Plan considers a number of key indicators and output data. The first section of the report evaluates and assesses […]

This resource proposes a whole of government strategy to drive solutions to Australia’s high Aboriginal imprisonment rates and high levels of experienced violence. It proposes principles and policy responses in […]

For many societies, the consumption of alcohol and its related outcomes are deeply embedded in cultural, economic, legal and health systems. Yet alcohol is not an ‘ordinary commodity’. It is […]

The review was established to assess the appropriateness of the legislation, practices and procedures that apply in cases where family violence is an issue and, in particular, to consider whether […]

This paper considers the Aboriginal Care Circle Pilot Program (Care Circle pilot) in Nowra as a ‘culturally appropriate’ step within the court process for deciding Aboriginal child protection care matters. […]

Our legal system was largely inherited from Britain, so it is, therefore based in European-Western cultural and legal traditions. Alongside this, and over many thousands of years, Australian Indigenous communities […]

A research team recently completed an exercise to estimate relative rates of Indigenous Family Violence (IFV). The research was conducted on a national scale and utilised only quantitative information. This […]

Indigenous customary law should not be viewed simply in terms of traditional tribal punishments but should be seen principally as the application of cultural values and principles to Indigenous community […]

This is an evaluation of a community based, residential diversion program that supports Koori men to complete their Community Corrections Orders. It is a live-in program, providing rehabilitation through support, […]

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are vastly over-represented in the Australian juvenile and criminal justice systems, with a high cost through exposure to the harsh prison environment, marginalisation, and […]

20 years after the release of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) report, which noted the need to reduce Aboriginal incarceration, Indigenous imprisonment continues to rise alongside […]

In June 2007, the Australian Government responded to the report of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into Protection of Aboriginal Children with the announcement of a package of 12 […]

This report investigates the detention, care and protection systems for children and young people in the NT. The report examines instances of abuse and mistreatment experienced by children, the vast […]

This report investigates the detention, care and protection systems for children and young people in the NT. The report examines instances of abuse and mistreatment experienced by children, the vast […]

This report investigates the detention, care and protection systems for children and young people in the NT. The report examines instances of abuse and mistreatment experienced by children, the vast […]

This report investigates the detention, care and protection systems for children and young people in the NT. The report examines instances of abuse and mistreatment experienced by children, the vast […]

This report investigates the detention, care and protection systems for children and young people in the NT. The report examines instances of abuse and mistreatment experienced by children, the vast […]

This report investigates the detention, care and protection systems for children and young people in the NT. The report examines instances of abuse and mistreatment experienced by children, the vast […]

This report investigates the detention, care and protection systems for children and young people in the NT. The report examines instances of abuse and mistreatment experienced by children, the vast […]

This report investigates the detention, care and protection systems for children and young people in the NT. The report examines instances of abuse and mistreatment experienced by children, the vast […]

In order to combat the increasingly adverse impacts of alcohol consumption on Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island every person in the region, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, must hold a permit to […]

The health of Australia’s prisoners 2009 is the culmination of several years’ development of national indicators in relation to prisoner health in Australia. This first national report shows that prisoners […]

This article reports on the trend in western New South Wales that sees young Indigenous people accused of an offence being granted bail on the condition that they relocate to […]

The main players involved in the administration of criminal justice in respect of Indigenous people of a non-English speaking background effectively combine to prop up a dysfunctional system where unrecognised […]

This paper is based on the observation that when an Aboriginal person speaks some English, lawyers often overestimate their capacity to be fairly interviewed in English. The paper explores the […]

Funded by the Federal Attorney General’s Department, the Indigenous Community Night Patrol Evaluation Project reviewed, evaluated and compared Indigenous community night patrol initiatives in Western Australia and New South Wales, […]

This paper presents a summary of the information collected during FaHCSIA’s community engagement qualitative trial undertaken in the Australian Capital Territory metropolitan region and the Queanbeyan region as part of […]

This report was compiled in response to concerns raised by Indigenous people about the prevalence of child sexual abuse in Australia. The report is a preliminary attempt to document the […]

The Indigenous offender population has continued to increase over recent years in terms of both numbers and imprisonment rates. This paper examines the impact of a number of data definitions […]

Australia’s children deserve a safe, healthy and happy childhood, and must be able to grow up nourished and supported in loving and caring environments. Over recent years the reported levels […]

The Council of Australian Governments endorsed the ‘National framework for protecting Australia’s children: protecting children is everyone’s business, 2009-2020’ on 30 April 2009. The national framework will operate through a […]

This report provides estimates of government expenditure across expenditure categories, mapped to the Council of Australian Government’s National Indigenous Reform Agreement building blocks. When combined with other information, the estimates […]

This report provides estimates of government expenditure across expenditure categories, mapped to the Council of Australian Government’s National Indigenous Reform Agreement building blocks. When combined with other information, the estimates […]

This report provides estimates of government expenditure across expenditure categories, mapped to the Council of Australian Government’s National Indigenous Reform Agreement building blocks. When combined with other information, the estimates […]

Federal Government funding was provided for the Youth in Communities (YIC) program for 2009/10 – 2011/12 under the Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory National Partnership Agreement. The YIC […]

The publicity given recently to allegations of sexual assault of women in Indigenous communities in Australia has highlighted the urgent need for culturally appropriate services for the survivors. The author […]

This article considers the outcomes of mediation training in the remote Northern Territory communities of Gunbalanya/Oenpelli and Lajamanu in 2012, in collaboration with the NT Government. The preliminary outcomes indicate […]

Evaluations of the Perth Drug Court Pilot Project : Final Report

In June 2007 the Federal Government announced a range of ’emergency measures’ to combat sexual abuse against indigenous children in the Northern Territory. Indigenous community members experiencing violence know however, […]

In 2003 the Victorian Indigenous Family Violence Task Force established that levels of violence were increasing and that responding to family violence required breaking a ‘silence of acceptance’ which allowed […]

The objective of this study was to identify individual and household factors associated with violence among Australian Indigenous women and dependent children. Univariate and multivariate analysis of data from the […]

In 2008 the Victorian Government launched a ten year plan to address Indigenous family violence. This paper critically reflects on the status of this plan two year after its launch. […]

Often service providers find Indigenous victims of violence with disabilities as a group ‘too hard to handle’. In Victoria, assistance to that group is likely to be unavailable or inappropriate […]

It has been 20 years since the report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody which drew attention to the alarmingly disproportionate levels of Indigenous people in custody. […]

The overrepresentation of Aboriginal young people in the criminal justice system is an ongoing social problem. In 2005, Aboriginal young people accounted for 52 percent of 10 to 17 year […]

This report describes the process and findings of the review of progress of the agreement between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments to establish a pre-court juvenile diversion scheme and […]

This paper The current controversy with respect to mandatory minimum sentencing laws takes place within a wider context of a general discussion on sentencing reform. This discussion has generally focused […]

It is argued that there are many points of critique to current federal policies in relation to Indigenous people in Australia. In this opinion piece, the author focuses on one […]

This report provides an overview of the impact of different kinds of crime prevention programs on Aboriginal communities throughout Australia. The report discusses crime levels in Indigenous communities; major crime […]

This report addresses the issue of whether the legal system is responding adequately to domestic and family violence against Indigenous people. The aims of the research were to: determine what […]

The article revisits Indigenous imprisonment and punishment through The Australian Prisons Project(APP). The APP was established in 2008 as a result of an Australian Research Council grant, where a major […]

Arising from the long term reform process set in motion by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, many jurisdictions in Australia have established Indigenous Justice Agreements. While IJAs […]

Australia’s rising imprisonment rates and the use of prisons as a social policy tool are examined. Factors for this rise could be: increasing criminal justice budgets; competition between political parties […]

When the ‘Bringing them home’ report was released in 1997, the focus was very much on the issue of the moral and legal responsibilities for past government policies of forced […]

This comment sets out the specific areas of conflict between mandatory sentencing and key human rights standards and provides a summary of criticism of mandatory sentencing by key United Nations […]

The purpose of this discussion paper is to provide the foundation for community negotiations on the development of an Aboriginal Justice Plan for New South Wales. The discussion paper follows […]

While there have been some progressive changes in Australian juvenile justice in recent years including developments in youth justice conferencing, more consistent and widely available diversionary options, and a longer […]

This paper looks at issues of crime and violence in Indigenous communities in the context of broader problems of criminal justice law, policy and practice. In particular it addresses four […]

This report presents key findings and recommendations developed as part of an independent evaluation of Queensland’s Remote Justices of the Peace (Magistrates Court) Program (JP Court program), conducted by researchers […]

This report presents key findings and recommendations from research conducted in 2011-2014 by the Indigenous Legal Needs Project (ILNP) in Queensland, Australia. The ILNP aims broadly, and on a national […]

This report identifies the most pressing legal needs of Indigenous Victorians, which involve housing, discrimination and debt. The report presents key findings and recommendations of research conducted in 2012- 2013 […]

This reports presents key findings and recommendations of research conducted in 2012-2014 by the Indigenous Legal Needs Project (ILNP) in Western Australia. The ILNP aims broadly and on a national […]

This report presents key findings and recommendations based upon research conducted in 2011 by the Indigenous Legal Needs Project (ILNP) in the Northern Territory (NT). he ILNP aims broadly and […]

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Agreement was developed by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Board (ATSIAB) and the Queensland Government. It was signed by the Premier, […]

The New South Wales Legal Aid Commission’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Mediation Program (ATSIFAM) was a pilot family dispute resolution service designed to meet the needs of Indigenous […]

The Aboriginal Over-Representation Strategic Plan (AORSP) was released in September 2001. The aim of the AORSP is to decrease the number of Aboriginal young people under the supervision of the […]

The 2006 New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey (NZCASS) is the first to enable a detailed analysis of the Maori experience of crime victimisation. Because the NZCASS focuses on victims […]

Wadeye is one of the largest Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Over the past decade, the community has attracted much negative media attention because of the amount of violence […]