Indigenous incarceration rates are a problem of poverty

The government is wrong to delay responding to the Empowered Communities report, as their model could be the fresh thinking the Productivity Commission argues is needed to close the gaps in social and economic outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

When it comes to addressing Indigenous disadvantage, Australia is going backwards. Despite considerable investment, very little progress has been made. In fact, employment gaps are increasing rather than narrowing, and one of the primary knock-on effects is that incarceration rates are rising.

Until we can make real headway in closing the gaps in education and employment, Indigenous crime and incarceration rates will continue to rise.

Change the Record Coalition’s Blueprint for Change suggests the best way to tackle the 88% increase in Indigenous incarceration rates is through more community justice and culturally appropriate programs but this is not the new approach that the Productivity Commission is looking for.

A number of culturally appropriate programs have been implemented since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991, but most have failed to make a noticeable impact on crime and recidivism rates. For example an evaluation of circle sentencing in New South Wales found there was no difference in recidivism rates of Indigenous offenders who were circle sentenced and a control group who were not.

If we are to have any hope of reducing Indigenous incarceration rates we need to look at the underlying reasons why Indigenous people are offending and reoffending in the first place.

While there is no question that police and court bias may be a factor in some cases, overall, Indigenous offenders receive shorter sentences than non-Indigenous offenders for most crimes.

The reason Indigenous people are more likely to be locked up for minor crimes like traffic offences, is because many do not have the education to get a licence or the financial means to pay their fines.

Rather than viewing high Indigenous crime and incarceration rates as an Indigenous-specific problem, we need to see it as a problem of poverty.

Crime occurs more in low socio-economic areas. One of the main reasons why the Indigenous incarceration rate is 13 times higher than non-Indigenous Australians is because a greater proportion of Indigenous Australians are not in the labour force (35%) and live in low socioeconomic, welfare dependent suburbs (22%) or communities (13%) with corresponding higher levels of crime.

Australia’s most disadvantaged postcodes have at least twice the rate of unemployment, criminal convictions and imprisonment than other postcodes. In many remote communities where there is no economy, and employment opportunities are limited, the percentage of offenders per population is very high. For example in Yuendumu in 2012, one out of six residents was in prison — 93 offenders from a total population of 587.

Poor educational attainment and unemployment are strong determinants of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous offending. In fact, unemployment is a greater risk factor for offending than being Indigenous – with unemployed Indigenous people 20 times more likely to go to jail than Indigenous people who are employed.

Improving the opportunities for employment in Indigenous communities is likely to have a more transformative impact than tinkering with aspects of the criminal justice system ever could

The crucial question is how best to lift Indigenous Australians out of poverty and into employment?

Currently there are many different government programs and services that aim to do this, but programs do not create sustainable economic opportunities – only commerce and private enterprise do. Unfortunately, in many rural and remote communities there is little opportunity for economic development because of restrictions that prevent people from starting private businesses on communal title land.

Addressing such restrictions and impediments to economic growth is one of the aims of the Empowered Communities – a group of Indigenous leaders from eight regions across the nation. They argue for a new approach that empowers Indigenous communities and sees Indigenous leaders, governments and corporate leaders all working together to address social concerns and improve economic opportunities.

Already, Business Council Australia’s members have collectively spent more than $1.7 billion on Indigenous enterprises and joint ventures. More of these types of partnerships have the potential to deliver real economic benefits to individuals and communities.

Only when government stops the service delivery paradigm that has dominated Indigenous affairs, and starts providing Indigenous people with real opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty, will the gaps start to close and Indigenous crime rates go down.

Sara Hudson is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies