The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) is calling on the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments to take meaningful action on the systemic failures that continue to put Aboriginal children and families at risk.
It will take many months before there is a clear picture of the full circumstances that contributed to the tragic loss of Kumanjayi Little Baby.
We know her death occurred in the context of a failed prison system, the absence of consistent transitional and community-based support for people leaving custody, and a chronic housing crisis which leaves children and families without stable homes.
NAAJA Chairperson Theresa Roe says: “It is a false and misleading narrative to suggest Aboriginal families, communities or organisations are to blame for the tragic events of last week.
“Instead, scrutiny and accountability must be directed at the failure of governments to build effective systems that keep families and communities safe,” Ms Roe said.
A prison system that does not keep us safe
NAAJA points to a prison system that clearly does not keep communities safe.
Locking people up, even repeatedly, does not ensure community safety. In many cases, repeated time in prison only exacerbates a person’s risk factors, especially without access to rehabilitation, education and programs.
The NT prison system has, and continues to, fail to provide effective rehabilitation. Part of this failure stems from the unwillingness to implement Aboriginal-designed and led programs that are fit-for-purpose for the overwhelming majority of prisoners, who are Aboriginal.
NAAJA CEO Ben Grimes says: “there continues to be a lack of accountability for a prison system that fails to effectively rehabilitate prisoners. This is not just a service gap, it is a systemic failure.”
Last year, Corrections’ own reporting identified $9 million in under-spending across programs, because of provider shortages, remote delivery barriers and restrictions on prisoner movement within correctional facilities.
“We need a justice system that works,” Ben Grimes said. “This NT government likes to talk about being tough on crime, but they consistently fail to understand that ‘tough’ and ‘effective’ are not the same thing.”
Barriers faced by people leaving prison
Another clear failing is the lack of supported and transitional housing for people leaving prison.
Particularly for high-risk repeat offenders, it is crucial there is transitional accommodation that enables a safe reintegration into post-prison life.
The NAAJA Throughcare service provides culturally responsive case management and supports for capped numbers of Aboriginal people leaving prison.
One of the most common barriers identified by NAAJA Throughcare workers, however, is the lack of accommodation and housing options for people leaving prison.
Right now, a person in prison cannot progress their application on the 8-10-year waitlist for public housing in Alice Springs, to ensure they have accommodation on release. This is a long-standing and well-known issue.
There are simply not enough community-based transitional supports for people exiting prison, including mental health support.
This often leaves individuals without the housing, services, and stability needed to safely reintegrate, unnecessarily placing families and communities at greater risk.
“There is a direct link between increased prison numbers and lessening community safety,” Mr Grimes said.
“When laws and policies unnecessarily overload our criminal justice system, it means there is less time and attention provided for the matters that are more likely to genuinely impact community safety.
“The more over-stretched the system is, the more likely it is that individuals will fall through the cracks.”
This NT Government has significantly increased numbers of people entering the front-end of the criminal justice system but has failed to account for flow-on impacts of those increased numbers through the rest of the system.
A housing crisis that endangers children
Chronic over-crowding and a severe shortage of housing across the Territory means many children are growing up without access to safe and stable homes, and families are forced to make extraordinarily difficult decisions about where to sleep each night.
NAAJA is calling for urgent investment in public and Aboriginal controlled housing, an end to over-crowding, and an end to punitive evictions from public housing.
“This NT Government has actively bragged about the numbers of people it evicts from public housing,” Mr Grimes said.
“All that does is put families into highly vulnerable situations where they cannot control who comes into contact with their children.
“A humane and decent approach would be to brag about putting people into stable housing, not kicking them out of it.”
Over-crowding and lack of stable and suitable housing has long been identified as the most foundational cause of negative social, health and criminal justice outcomes.
NAAJA says, despite this, there has been little meaningful progress on housing by successive governments.
Theresa Roe says: “unfortunately, the experience of Aboriginal Territorians is that governments will try to shift blame and avoid responsibility for the failure of their systems.
“Aboriginal communities and organisations have consistently called out successive governments for harmful, ineffective and wasteful responses, yet we are consistently ignored.
“We reject any calls for an inquiry or royal commission – we already know what works and what doesn’t.
“Don’t waste money on another inquiry. Instead, we call on the Commonwealth government to hold the NT Government accountable for their failed systems and wasteful use of Commonwealth money.
“We call for public money to be used in ways that is supported by evidence and in partnership with Aboriginal people, rather than for short-term political gain.”
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Media contact:
Emily Murphy-O’Neill
Media Strategy & Communications Officer
North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency
Phone: 0455 556 412
Email: emily.murphyoneill@naaja.org.au
Website: https://www.naaja.org.au/