NCJ Number
164189
Journal
Up2 Date Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: (April/May 1996) Pages: 8-11,14
Date Published
1996
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article outlines sections of a report that address the implementation of the youth-specific recommendations of the Australian Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Abstract
The report at issue is the Implementation by Governments of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. One recommendation suggests that the Office of Indigenous Affairs be responsible for coordinating the development of a comprehensive National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Strategy across all relevant Commonwealth departments and agencies. Another recommendation suggests that Aboriginal Legal Services Throughout Australia be funded to such an extent as will enable an adequate level of representation and advice to Aboriginal juveniles. Three recommendations relate to negotiation between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organizations to develop community-based programs specifically for young indigenous people. Recommendations include addressing the need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be trained to administer and deliver these programs and to be employed in the juvenile justice and welfare system generally. A recommendation holds that police officers use cautions with greater frequency, rather than arrest, summons, or attendance notice. Under another recommendation juveniles would not be detained in police lockups except in exceptional circumstances. Further, a recommendation advises that when an Aboriginal juvenile is taken to a police station for interrogation or as a result of arrest, the officer in charge should immediately advise the relevant Aboriginal Legal Service and the parent or person responsible for the care and supervision of the juvenile. Also, no Aboriginal juvenile should be interrogated by a police officer except in the presence of a parent or other person responsible for the juvenile's care and supervision. The fact that some of the aforementioned recommendations have been only partly addressed, and some not at all, shows the lack of commitment by governments and key agencies to implement effective strategies to address the situation facing young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is even more disturbing that today, 3 years after the Commonwealth's first annual report, little more has been done. 21 footnotes