23 July 2013

The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) calls on the NT Government to reconsider its decision to discontinue funding the Larrakia Nation’s Prisoner ID program.

The Larrakia Nation Prisoner ID Program came about because many Aboriginal people lack the documentary evidence to obtain other forms of identification. The Program enables many Aboriginal people to obtain photographic  ID, without which it is impossible to access basic services like getting a job, opening a bank account, or travelling on an airplane.

NAAJA’s Throughcare project helps Aboriginal people make the transition from jail back into the community. ‘Identification is a huge problem for many of our clients’, said Samantha Taylor-Hunt, Coordinator of NAAJA Throughcare.‘Many of our clients are unable to even get a birth certificate because there is no registry of their birth. They are unable to meet the requirements of any other form of photo ID,’ said Ms Taylor-Hunt.

‘If the Government is serious about increasing employment among Aboriginal people, it needs to see practical barriers like accessing identification which must first be overcome,’ said NAAJA’s CEO Priscilla Collins.

NAAJA calls on the government to reconsider its decision to cut funding to the Larrakia Nation Prisoner ID program.

‘It is essential that photo ID be accessible to Aboriginal people. Without the Larrakia Nation Prisoner ID Program, this will not be the case and it will set up prisoners to fail,’ Ms Collins said.

Contact: Priscilla Collins

08 8982 5100
0427 045 665