AUSTRALIAN POPULATION:

AUSTRALIAN PRISON POPULATION:

2006 2.3% 14%

2008 2.5% 24%

1.Offence criminalisation- ATSI are 15 times more likely to be charged for swearing or behaving disrespectfully in their community.

2. The social and economic situation-Poverty and unemployment, particularly for young aboriginal people or in rural and remote areas.

3. Lack of language skills-Some Aboriginal people are sentenced to jail without them fully understanding the court process.

An indigenous person is 14 times more likely to be locked up in prison than a non-indigenous person.

Lower life spans Higher unemployment An over representation within our

corrective services

ATSI are over represented because of unequal positioning in Australian society mainly in these three areas;

Socially- disconnected from other nationality groups and rejected in society

Economically- no education leading to no employment

Culturally- going back to when the Aboriginal people were taken away from their land (Stolen Generation)

“Every day of the week we act for aboriginal people who’ve been charged with disorderly conduct, their main crime is swearing at the police. They use the F and C word excessively. Often because they are drunk or affected by drugs, or both, or they’ve got a mental illness or they’re homeless or whatever”

CUSTOMARY LAW CRIMINAL LAW

•Violence by Aboriginal men against their female partners is very common

•Some of this behaviour is accepted as a method of redressing wrongs and restoring social harmony often known as “payback”

•Pleas to lesser charges have been accepted because of the fact that Aboriginal customary law has applied to Aboriginal people, because it is their way of life and rules to follow within their culture

•Criminal law in Australia does not allow violence between people regardless of the situation

•If self defence the court attempts to look around the situation