News

The number of prisoners in Australia has reached a ten year high, but current law and order policies are not making our communities safer, says the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA). The figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week, also show the highest annual increase in national prisoner numbers since 2004.
‘We know the terrible effect of incarceration on our communities and we must break the cycle,’ said NAAJA CEO Priscilla Collins. ‘These figures show that the cycle is not only continuing but the situation is far worse than it was ten years ago.’
The NT imprisonment rate is five times the national imprisonment rate, increasing to 83 prisoners per 10,000 adults. 7 out of 10 prisoners have been locked up before, higher than the national rate.
Northern Territory prisoners serve shorter sentences that other parts of Australia. NT Prisoners serve an average sentence length of 1.3 years compared to 3 years nationally. ‘These short, sharp sentences just expose more Aboriginal people to custody, and all the evidence shows that once people are in the custodial system, they stay in it,’ said Ms Collins.
Alarmingly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the NT make up 86% of the adult prison population, compared to 27% nationally, and are being locked up at a rate of 239 per 10,000 people. This is 15 times the rate that non-Aboriginal people are being locked up.
‘‘The Social Justice Commissioner has reported that we’re better at keeping Aboriginal people in prison than in school,’ Ms Collins said. ‘Proper investment in health, social and education services must be a priority.’
‘Building more prisons and locking up more of our people is not the answer. We need to invest in strategies that tackle the root causes of criminal behaviour head-on,’ according to Ms Collins. ‘Punitive bail laws, strict mandatory sentencing regimes and the recent introduction of paperless arrests only make the problem worse. Just this week, United Nations representatives expressed serious concerns about the effect of mandatory sentencing on Aboriginal people.’
‘NAAJA supports calls from the Social Justice Commissioner, Law Council of Australia, APONT and National Justice Coalition for the implementation of Justice Targets to address the national emergency of Aboriginal over-incarceration across Australia, but especially in the NT.’
Media Inquiries:
Priscilla Collins
CEO, NAAJA
0427 045 665

The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) is thrilled to receive a 2014 Fitzgerald: NT Human Rights Award in the Justice category. This award is a tribute to the strong leadership of our Board, the drive of our CEO Priscilla Collins and the hard work and dedication of our staff to advance the human rights of Aboriginal Territorians.

The Fitzgeralds are the inaugural Northern Territory Human Rights Awards, which are named after Tony Fitzgerald, NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner from 2002 to 2009 and champion of human rights in the NT.

The Awards night was celebrated on United Nations Day for Human Rights – 10 December 2014 – at a well-attended function at the Supreme Court, Darwin which featured keynote speaker, Carine Kapiamba.

There were four awards: the Fitzgerald Youth Award awarded to Stewart Willey, the Fitzgerald Justice Award awarded to NAAJA, the Fitzgerald Change Award awarded to the NT Working Women’s Centre and the Fitzgerald Diversity Award awarded to Jeswynn Yogaratnam.

NAAJA has made an exceptional contribution to ensuring the promotion, protection and fulfilment of human rights of Aboriginal people in the Top End of the Northern Territory since 1972.

This has come not only through the dedication of our staff to protecting the rights of their clients through casework, but also through NAAJA’s leadership and advocacy across a wide range of issues affecting Aboriginal people.

‘NAAJA is a grass roots, Aboriginal community-controlled organisation that has been at the forefront of protecting the human rights of Aboriginal people in the Top End for 42 years,’ said NAAJA CEO Priscilla Collins.

‘We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate not only the winners and those who received commendations, but also those nominated and those who made nominations for these important awards’, said Ms Collins.

NAAJA wishes to express our thanks and gratitude to the NT Anti-Discrimination Commission for their initiative in establishing these fantastic awards as well as the long-standing support we have received from the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

This Award is also a recognition of the Commonwealth Government’s dedication over many years to ensure that Aboriginal justice organisations are able to protect the human rights of Aboriginal people. ‘If we are to ensure the human rights of Aboriginal Territorians are protected, Government needs to continue to support Aboriginal organisations with a proven track record of success such as NAAJA’, said Ms Collins.

For more information, please see the Anti-Discrimination Commission’s website: http://www.adc.nt.gov.au/index.html

Media Inquiries:

Priscilla Collins

CEO, NAAJA

0427 045 665